134 BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES 



English synonyms than any other inhabitant of our waters, 

 as though men would persuade themselves that so substantial 

 a creature, disguised under a tempting alias^ might make a 

 prettier dish. But it is all of no avail ; nobody has had a 

 good word for this fish on the table since Izaak Walton made 

 Venator exclaim, after sampling the big chub with the white 

 spot on its tail, " Trust me, 'tis as good meat as ever I 

 tasted." 



Most people who have tried it continue to be of Venator's 

 earlier opinion. " Oh, sir ! a chub is the worst fish that 

 swims ; I hoped for a trout to my dinner." Even the French 

 can make nothing of him, and dub him le vilain or le vilain 

 testard. More's the pity, for the chub shows more sport than 

 most of his kindred, reaches a heavy weight, and rises well 

 to the artificial fly. 



Two features mainly distinguish the chub — its plump, 

 thick body, and its heavy head. From the first of these 

 characteristics has come the name " chub " — that which is 

 plump ; from the second has come the older English name 

 " chevin," from the old French cheviniau (modern French 

 chevanne), a derivative of chef^ the head, and equivalent to 

 the Italian name for this fish — capitone. 



In colour the chub is dark greenish or bluish on the back, 

 bright silvery on the sides, sometimes tinged with brassy hues 

 in large specimens. The skin is covered with large and strong 

 scales, those above the lateral line measuring one-half more 

 in diameter than the eye. As in all cyprinoid fish, there is 

 a curious spine-like scale situated just over the insertion of 

 each ventral fin. In the chub, this scale, like the ventral 

 and anal fins, is coloured bright red ; the pectoral fins are 

 greenish, the dorsal and caudal very dark grey, ruddy at 

 the base. The iris is golden, with green spots. The 

 chub grows to a larger size than any other of the British 

 white fish, except the bream. It is often taken weighing 

 from 2 lb. to 3 lb., rarely as much as 5 lb. or 6 lb. Mr. 



