340 THE FRESH- WATER FISHES OF EUROPE. 



and extend backward and upward, so that the head appears prolonged in those 

 directions. The dorsal profile forms a flat curve similar to the ventral outline, 

 and is nearly straight between the dorsal and adipose fins. 



The fins show no distinctive characters from C. wartmanni, except that the 

 edge of the dorsal is more curved, the pectoral is longer and more pointed, the 

 small adipose fin pointed, the caudal fin deeply forked, and its terminal rays 

 just exceed the length of the head. The base of the tail is thicker and higher ; 

 the lateral and cephalic canals are similar. There are sixty to sixty-one 

 vertebras, and the colour is similar but not so deep, and there is less black 

 pigment on the body. 



At spawning-time the fins are pale red, often finely dotted with black, 

 though never edged with black. But in South Germany black edging is found ; 

 in Prussia it occurs in the variety named C. marana. The species spawns in the 

 end of November or December in shallow, gravelly places; spawning, according 

 to the Lake Constance fishermen, happens a fortnight earlier than in the 

 (7. wartmanni) though Jurine.says it spawns in February. The eggs number 

 from 20,000 to 50,000, and measure from two and a half to three millimetres 

 in diameter. 



At ordinary times the fish lives in great depths, and when drawn up in nets 

 the air-bladder expands and inflates the body, so as to suggest the idea of the 

 fish having a full crop. It lives on worms, insects, and small mollusca. The 

 flesh is white and firm, greatly esteemed when fresh, and, according to Benecke, 

 has then an agreeable odour of cucumber. 



Coregornis lapponicus (GUNTHER), 



D. 15, A. 16. Scales : lat. line 94 100, transverse - 



9 



This fish reaches a length of sixteen inches; the total length without 

 the caudal fin is about five times the length of the head and four times the 

 height of the body. The diameter of the eye is one-fifth of the length of 

 the head and two-thirds of the length of the snout. The head is small, of 

 moderate height, with the snout obliquely truncated and the upper jaw pro- 

 jecting beyond the lower. The frontal space between the orbits is rather 

 convex, and in width one and a third times the diameter of the eye. The 

 maxillary bone barely extends below the beginning of the fatty eyelid ; the sup- 

 plementary bone of the maxillary is short, broad, and semicircular. The pectoral 

 fin is longer than the head without the snout. The commencement of the dorsal 

 fin is nearer to the back o the head than to the adipose fin. This fish is 

 closely allied to Coregonus lavaretus, but has smaller and shorter jaws. It is 



