CARP TRIBE. 463 



carps mainly characteristic of Eastern Asia and Japan, and having the following 

 distinctive features. The anal fin is of moderate length, and extends forwards to 

 below the line of the dorsal ; the lateral line, when fully developed, runs on or 

 near the middle of the tail ; and there is but a single series of pharyngeal teeth. 

 The bitterling, which belongs to a genus characterised by the incomplete lateral 

 line, and the small size of the scales, is locally distributed in Central Europe, 

 where it is not unfrequently found in hot springs. It is one of the smallest of 

 European fishes, the females being generally about 1J inches in length, while the 

 males do not exceed twice this size. The name is derived from the bitter taste of 

 the flesh ; and it is only perch and eels that will take this fish when used as a bait. 

 In common with its allies, the bitterling is remarkable for the circumstance that 

 in the breeding-season the oviduct of the female is produced into an elongated tube, 

 projecting a considerable distance beyond the surface of the body. This organ, 

 which may be compared to the ovipositor of an insect, is introduced within the 

 shells of fresh-water mussels, and the eggs are thus deposited in a situation where 

 they will be protected from the attacks of enemies. 



The common European bream (Abramia brama), shown in the 

 lower figure of the illustration on the next page, is the type of a large 

 group of genera, characterised by the elongation of the anal fin, and by a portion 

 or the whole of the abdomen being compressed so as to form a sharp edge. In the 

 type genus the much compressed body is deep or oblong in form, with the scales of 

 moderate size, and the lateral line running below the middle of the tail ; the short 

 dorsal fin, which is not furnished with a spine, being situated opposite the interval 

 between the pelvic and anal fins. In both jaws the lips are simple, the upper 

 being protractile, and generally longer than the lower, although occasionally the 

 reverse condition obtains. The pharyngeal teeth may be arranged in either a 

 single or double series ; and the scales' do not extend across the sharp edge of the 

 lower surface of the hinder part of the body. Distributed over Europe north of 

 the Alps, portions of Western Asia, and North America, the breams are repre- 

 sented by about fifteen species, of which the common bream and the white bream 

 (A. blicea) are found in Britain. The white bream, shown in the upper figure of 

 our illustration, has the general colour of the sides bluish white, without any trace 

 of the golden yellow lustre, from the presence of which the common species is often 

 termed the carp-bream. They may also be distinguished by the iris of the eye in 

 the latter being yellow, and in the former silvery white, tinged with pink. Yarrell 

 writes that " bream swim in shoals, feeding on worms, and other soft-bodied animals, 

 with some vegetable substances ; and if the water they inhabit suits them, which 

 is generally the case, as they are hardy in their nature, they grow rapidly, and 

 spawn in May. At this season one female is generally followed by three or four 

 males, and they bear at this time a whitish tubercle on their scales, which causes 

 them to feel rough to the hand." In some of the Irish lakes bream run to as 

 much as 12 or 14 Ibs. in weight ; and as they are a greedy fish, great numbers can 

 be taken by the aid of ground -baiting. Of the other two species here figured, the 

 zope (A. ballerus), forming the second figure from the top, is an inhabitant of 

 Germany, Holland, and Sweden; while the zarthe (A. vimba), is found in the 

 Danube, as well as in the rivers of North Germany, Sweden, and Russia. The 



