POND AND RIVER FISH 



1035 



are imiisually small. Like most of the 

 Carp group, it can live for an extended 

 period out of water if only it is wrapped 

 loosely in a little wet moss or weeds. 

 The Golden Tench is an acclimatised 

 variety often met with in ornamental 

 waters. 



Of the Breams, there are two kinds 

 ordinarily found in British rivers. The 

 commoner species is the Silver Bream, 

 a handsome bluish-white fish having a 

 deep body with a comparatively small 

 head and an unusually long anal fin. It 

 is remarkably narrow in width, and on 

 this account often goes 

 by the name of Bream 

 Flat. The second variety, 

 the Pomeranian Bream, 

 is thicker set, and has 

 a yellow iris to the 

 eye. It is usually con- 

 sidered to be a hybrid 

 between the Continental 

 Bronze Bream and the 

 Roach. All Bream grow 

 rapidly, and are of a 

 hardy nature ; they swim 

 in shoals and feed largeh' 

 on worms. 



The Bleak is a silvery 

 fish that may be recog- 

 nised from the Dace by 

 its long, almost Bream- 

 hke, anal fin. Its scales, we are told, were 

 formerly used in making artificial pearls. 

 It is a gregarious Httle fish, and is frequently 

 found swimming in shoals at the surface of 

 streams on the look-out for insect food. 



Another variety distanth^ related to the 

 Carp is the well-known Minnow. Having 

 a large e3^e, a somewhat mackerel-like 

 pattern on its scales and an incomplete 

 lateral fine, it should be easily recognised. 

 It is not nearl}' so common now as it was 

 a few years ago. as milhons are annually 

 netted for live bait. 



Gudgeon also belong to the Carp family, 

 having the barbels characteristic of the 

 Tench and the Common Carp. Mot only 

 are their fins deprived of spines, but they 

 are also speckled, a point which should 

 readily assist in effecting their identi- 

 fication. Gudgeon haunt the shallows 

 of rivers, e.specially in bright sunny 

 weather ; their protective mimicry is then 

 unusually clever. 



Turning to quite another family we 

 come to the Perch group, in which we shall 

 include the Perch proper, the Pike Perch, 

 and the Pope or Ruff. All the members 

 of this class possess spiny rays in the 

 dorsal fin which, when stiffly erected, 

 afford a suitable protection against the 

 greedy propensities of such water pirates 

 as Pike. The Perch is one of our finest- 

 looking fish, being of a slaty-green lustre 

 with six transverse stripes of brown and 

 bright red under fins. Its spawn, which 

 appears late in spring, is eagerly sought 

 after by wild-fowl and swans ; it is laid in 



PERCH (/'EWt.l I I.IVIATILIS). 



long gelatinous bands somewhat similar 

 to that of the toad, and maj' be found not 

 far below the surface of the water, clinging 

 to the weeds and rushes. The Pike Perch 

 is a narrow, worried-looking fish of quick, 

 alert movements ; itscapacity for swallow- 

 ing large morsels of food is only equalled 

 by that of the snake. The Pope or Ruff 

 is of Perch-hke build, but in more drabby 

 colouring ; it may be recognised as ha\-ing 

 the trait of two dorsal fins joined into one. 



Pike belong to quite another class. 

 Their long, barrel-shaped bocUes of mottled 

 brown and green cl(«ely resemble floating 

 twigs ; they are thus able to approach 

 their victims without arousing suspicion. 



The Stickleback is an ally of the some- 

 what romantic Flying Fish as well as the 

 Mullet and the Seashore Blenny. Its 

 pugnacious habits are the cause of much 

 mischief to itself and its neighbours, whilst 

 its greecUness for the fry of all kinds of 

 fish must have a far-reaching effect. 



