220 



THE FRESH-WATER FISHES OF EUROPE. 



A. vimba. The height of the body is more than one-quarter of the length of 

 the fish. The length of the head is one-sixth of the length of the fish. The 

 diameter of the eye is one-third of the length of the head, and it is separated 

 from the other eye by one and a half times its own diameter. The eye is near 

 to the extremity of the snout ; the nose scarcely projects over the mouth, which 



Fig. 122. ABRAMIS SAPA (PALLAs). 



is very small and oblique, so that its angle does not extend back to the 

 anterior nares. The dorsal fin begins in the middle of the length ; it is fully 

 twice as high as long, and pointed, owing to the posterior truncation. The 

 last ray is one-quarter of the length of the longest ray. The pectoral fins ex- 

 tend back over the base of the ventrals, which reach to the vent, or beginning 

 of the anal. The elongated lower lobe of the caudal fin is nearly one-quarter 

 of the entire length. In the hinder part of the body the lateral line runs in 

 the middle of the side. It descends so as to make a slightly concave curve in 

 its middle portion. 



The scales are ornamented with ten or fifteen remarkably fine rays, forming 

 a fan. The largest scales, which are in the anal region, are about the diameter 

 of the eye. 



The accessory gills are well developed. The pharyngeal bones are inter- 

 mediate in form between Abramis brama and A. vimba, the anterior process is 

 less elongated than in the Bream. 



The back of this fish is scarcely darker than the rest of the body, the 

 entire surface being a bright silver, with mother-of-pearl lustre. The fins are 

 whitish, but the dorsal, anal, and caudal are spotted with black ; the iris is 

 pale yellow. 



