214 



THE FRESH-WATER FISHES OF EUROPE. 



amounting to 28,500,000, according to Dr. Grimm ; but this probably 

 includes the other species of the genus. The value of the fish varies from 

 sixty copecks to one rouble per pood, and the large fishes sell at twenty-four 

 to twenty-seven roubles a thousand. About four hundred thousand poods 

 are exported annually from Astrakhan, though some writers have stated the 

 quantity at three times that amount. 



The species is generally distributed throughout the north and middle 

 of Europe, but it is not found south of the Pyrenees and Alps. 



Heckel, as long ago as 1835, described a Bream from the shallow Austrian 

 lake called the Neusiedler See, which has been found nowhere else, and is 

 rare even there. It has no distinctive name among fishermen, and, in 



Fig. 118. AliUAMIS KKAMA, YAH. VETVLA (HECKEL). 



common with the other forms, is termed Bream. This variety was named the 

 Abramis velula, and appears to be a local race, distinguished by having 

 the body more elongated, the head large and long, with larger eyes, and 

 it has the fins longer and more pointed (Fig. 118). The greatest height of 

 the body is one-quarter of the entire length. The eye is its own diameter 

 from the extremity of the nose. The pectoral fins reach half way down the 

 ventrals ; and from the sharp outline of the fins Heckel and Kner term this 

 fish the Pointed Bream. All the fins are spotted with black. The general 

 colour of the body is greenish-grey, reddish-brown on the upper part of 

 the head, and a shining lead colour on the sides and abdomen. It is usually 

 about eight or nine inches long. 



Other local races are found in various parts of Europe. The Moselle 

 yields a form common in some seasons about Metz, which Blanchard has 



