148 THE FRESH-WATER FISHES OF EUROPE. 



300,000,000 to 400,000,000 of the Caspian variety of the Roach are caught 

 every year. When fresh they weigh about 7,000,000 poods (a pood being 

 thirty-six pounds English), but only weigh half as much when dried. In 

 1808 one thousand salted Caspian Roach could be bought in Astrakhan 

 for from sixty to eighty copecks, that is, from one shilling and ten pence to 

 two shillings and threepence; but in 1872 the price had so increased that one 

 thousand unsalted Roach cost one pound sterling (seven roubles) at the 

 fisheries. The roe of the Caspian Roach, to the amount of several tons of 

 thousands of poods, is made into caviare, and exported ; but it is not 

 commonly separated from the roe of the Bream ; the caviare from both 

 together, to the amount of 150,000 poods, is exported from Astrakhan. 



The Roach spawns in April and May in Prussia, May in Austria, and 

 June in England, when the scales of the male become rough. The fishes 

 then assemble in weedy places in shoals, and exhibit those lively movements 

 which have given rise to the adage, " As sound as a Roach. " It is not often 

 safe to depend on mediaeval etymology, but it had been supposed that the 

 Roach was incapable of becoming diseased, and was hence named after St. 

 Roch, the legendary ^Esculapius. 



Lund says that females ascend the stream preceded and followed by 

 males, and that when the females, tired with these attentions, deposit their 

 eggs, the males rub themselves against the precious deposit, and fecundate the 

 ova. The young are said to breed in the second year. 



The eggs number^ according to Benecke, 80,000 to 100,000. Day stales 

 that they are greenish, but become red when boiled. They are deposited with 

 considerable noise and movement. At this time the fishes lose their shyness, 

 and are easily captured. The eggs are hatched in from ten to fourteen days. 

 The fish are, however, not much valued for food, being full of bones, but are 

 in the best condition in October. They grow quickly, and form excellent food 

 for Trout and Pike. The fish is sociable, and not only herds with troops of 

 Bream, Rudd, &c., but breeds with them, forming several bastard varieties. 



In winter the Roach retires to the bottom of the water, and remains 

 there, according to Fatio, in a sleepy or hybernating condition till the spring. 



The fish is liable to attacks from a Leech, and a multitude of intestinal 

 worms, which are sometimes so numerous as to give the body a swollen aspect. 



The Roach is found throughout Europe north of the Alps, in Britain, 

 Belgium, Holland, France, Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, and Russia, 

 where it occurs in all river basins, and is found in great quantities in the 

 Sea of Azov and the Caspian. In France it is known as le Gar don; in North 

 Germany it is die Plotze ; in Austria, das Rothauge, or Rothfosser ; in 

 Sweden it is Mort ; and in Holland, fie 11 lank-room. 



