THE GUDGEON 



125 



length. Mr. Keene says that he has never caught one above 

 ten inches in length ; * probably not, and most Thames anglers 

 would read "six" for "ten." The EngHsh name, in which 

 the d is intrusive and redundant, was formerly written "goione" 

 and " gojone," Dame Berners spells it " gogen," an adaptation 

 of the French goujon^ which came from the Latin gobionem^ 

 accusative of gobioy an alternative form of gobius. Further 

 back it cannot be traced, nor is the meaning known. The 

 Greek form was Kw^Sto?. We have retained the word " goby," 

 but have assigned it to denote a totally different kind of fish 

 of the Cottidcf^ or Gurnard Family. 



In build and general proportions the gudgeon is very 

 similar to his larger relative, the barbel ; but he has only 

 two wattles, instead of four, which hang from the upper lip 

 at the corners of the mouth. The chief difference between 

 the two fish, constituting their generic distinction, is the 

 absence from the gudgeon's dorsal fin of the bony spine 

 in that of the barbel. The body of the gudgeon is much 

 elongated, and nearly cylindrical, being in length about four 

 times and a half its depth. The mouth is horizontal, but 

 inferior, covered with fleshy lips. The dorsal fin stands boldly 

 erect halfway down the body ; the tail fin is symmetrically 

 lobed ; the pectoral fin reaches as far back as in a line with the 

 beginning of the dorsal ; and the ventral fins are nearly as long 

 as the space between their base and the beginning of the anal 

 fin. Altogether the gudgeon displays a very large fin surface 

 in proportion to its bulk. The fins vary from a reddish to a 

 yellowish hue, spotted with dark brown ; the back and sides, 

 covered with rather large scales, vary from dark grey to brown 

 or fawn, mottled with dark green ; the spots in some specimens 

 tending to form a band along the lateral line. The under-parts 

 are pearly-white. 



The gudgeon loves clear running water, but it also inhabits 

 lakes on the Continent. It is widely distributed through the 



* The Practical Fisherman, p. 90. 



