104- THE FRESH-WATER FISHES OF EUROPE. 



The crowns of the middle pharyngeal teeth (Fig. 39) are less thick 

 than in Cyprinus carpio, but are quite as flat, and have only one furrow. 

 The fifth tooth, which forms a second row, is very small. 



The colour is dark green on the back, yellowish-green on the sides, yellow 

 on the belly. All the fins are black, though the dorsal fin is sometimes 

 brownish-grey, with black dots. This variety rarely exceeds a length of 

 eight inches ; when young its form is relatively more elongated, and the 

 height of the arch of the back increases with age. 



It is remarkable that while Heckel constituted a genus for this fish, he 

 mentions that the fishermen of the Neusiedler See have always regarded it as 

 a bastard of the Crucian Carp and the Lake Carp. 



GENUS : CaraSSiUS (NILSSON). 



The genus Carassius differs from Cyprinus in having no barbels, and in 

 having the pharyngeal teeth arranged in a single series of four on each side. 



Three species have been described, which are known as the Crucian Carp, 

 the Carp of Salonica, and the Gold Fish. The first and last named are both 

 extremely variable, and the domesticated varieties of Gold Fish are remarkable 

 enough to furnish characters for a multitude of genera if they could become 

 constant. 



Carassius vulgaris (NILSSON). The Crucian Carp. 



D. 3/1518, A. 3/56, P. 1314, C. 19, V. 2/7. Scales 78/56. 



The Crucian Carp (Pig. 40) is a variable species, so that it is necessary, first 

 of all, to describe the type, in which the back ascends in a sharp arch to the 

 dorsal fin. The head is usually less than one-third of the length of the body, 

 and is shorter and blunter than in the Carp. The height of the body is half 

 the length of the fish, and the greatest breadth is nearly one-third of the 

 height, so that the aspect of the fish is a form more than usually high and 

 compressed. The head is only a little less high than long. The eye is rather 

 small, not more than its own diameter from the snout, and twice its diameter 

 from the other eye ; the iris is silvery, with a coppery or golden border. 



The mouth is inclined obliquely downward, and its corners reach as far 

 back as the nares. 



The dorsal fin commences opposite to the ventral, rather less than half-way 



