150 



THE FRESH- WATER FISHES OF EUROPE. 



Leuciscus pigus (LACP.). 



above 7^ 8 



D. 1214, A. 14, V. 10, P. 1819, C. 19. Scales : lat. line 4649 



below 4. 



In the Italian lakes, especially Como and Lugano, there is a beautiful 

 Leuciscus, highly valued for food, which goes by the name of Pigo, a word 

 synonymous with lover, so that the Swiss writers have called it " le garden 

 ffalant." The fishermen of Lake Como term it in the autumn Encofjin. 



Fig. 75. LEUCISCUS PIOUS (LACEPEDE). 



This fish came to be described as a distinct species, and distinguished by some 

 writers from the Leuciscus of the Danube, which was termed L. virgo, but 



they are, beyond doubt, varieties of the 

 same species, and as the name L. pigus 

 ^ s ^ ne o^er, we nrs ^ give some ac- 

 count of the lake variety (Fig. 75). 



The form of the body is elongated, 

 with the head shorter and the eye 

 smaller than in L. rutilus ; the anal 

 fin is longer than high. The head is 

 about one-sixth of the length, and the 

 fish is about four and a half times as 



long as high. The diameter of the eye is about one-fifth of the length of 

 the head, or a little more. The profile rises quickly over the blunt snout 

 to the hinder part of the head. Fig. 76 shows the pharyngeal teeth. 



Fig. 76. I'HARYXfiEAL TEETH OF LETCISCUS 



pious. 



