ABRAMIS BALLERUS. 219 



of the mouth does not reach so far back as the anterior nares. The upper jaw 

 and nose scarcely project beyond the mandible. The contour of the top of the 

 head is flat, while behind the head the back rises in a curve. The abdominal 

 outline is more convex than the dorsal profile. The dorsal margin of the tail is 

 not keeled. 



The dorsal fin begins half-way down the body, and is usually more than 

 twice as high as long, and is about equal in length to the upper lobe of the 

 caudal fin. Its hinder outline is truncated. The base of the anal fin com- 

 mences a little behind the beginning of the dorsal. It is two-fifths of the 

 length of the body, is two and a half times as long as deep, and is trun- 

 cated. The pectoral fins extend over the base of the ventrals; the ventrals reach 

 to the vent. The lower lobe of the caudal fin is somewhat elongated. 



The scales are ornamented with a few rays, commonly six or seven, but 

 sometimes only two to four. The scales become largest on the sides, towards 

 the back of the head, but even these are scarcely half the diameter of the eye, 

 and, on the whole, the scales are smaller than in other species. The lateral 

 canal is nearly horizontal. 



The colour is like that in the other species : the upper part of the head is 

 brown, the back is dark blue or green, the sides yellow, shading into shining 

 silver ; the abdomen is reddish; the pectoral and ventral fins are yellow, while 

 the fins generally are dotted with black. 



The largest specimens are only one foot long, and the weight is seldom 

 more than a pound and a half. 



According to the Danube fishermen, this fish lives four or five years. It 

 spawns in April and May, and in ways of life and food resembles the other 

 species. It is found in Sweden, in Germany as far as the Rhine (but not in 

 Holland), in the Danube, and in Russian It frequents the entire coast of the 

 Baltic Sea, and is found in the Haffs. It ascends the Oder and Vistula. It 

 is found in the fresher parts of the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and Caspian. 



In this species the pharyngeal bones are much more slender than in 

 Ahramis drama, and have the anterior process very long. 



There are twenty-two thoracic vertebra?, and twenty-six in the tail. 



Abramis sapa (PALLAS). 



q _ TO 

 D. 11, A. 4148, V. 10. Scales: lat. line 5052, transverse 



8 



This species resembles Abramis ballerus, but the anal fin contains a few 

 more rays ; the scales are a little larger, and, therefore, fewer, and the snout 

 is remarkably blunt and thick (Fig. 122). The form of the head is like that of 



