THE TENCH 145 



short — that is, the bases occupy but a short space on the 

 body ; but they are high or deep in comparison with their 

 breadth, with bold rounded outlines. The ventral fins of 

 the male, in young fish identical with those of the female, 

 become modified with age into a concave shape, the first 

 ray being greatly thickened. The bones and muscles attached 

 to the base of these fins in the male are so fashioned as to 

 enable the fish to draw in the abdomen in a peculiar 

 manner. This has been explained as a means to facili- 

 tate the discharge of the milt, which other fish hasten by 

 rubbing themselves on stones or stakes — objects not often 

 to be found on the soft, muddy bottoms usually frequented 

 by tench. 



Tench have no liking for swift waters. A pond or 

 disused clay pit, with a soft bottom where they can bury 

 Distribution themselves in cold weather, is what they dearly 

 and habits, love. When that cannot be their lot, then are 

 they fain to put up with such rivers as the Thames, where 

 there are long and deep sluggish reaches ; but they hold 

 strongly the belief that all running water is water running 

 to waste. They are believed not to be indigenous to Britain, 

 although firmly established in both England and Ireland ; 

 possibly also in Scotland, though I have not met with them 

 there. They are common throughout Central and Southern 

 Europe in all suitable waters. They are seldom taken in 

 England of more than 3 lb. or 4 lb. in weight, although 

 pisciculturists in Germany rear them to double those dimensions 

 in their carp ponds. There is a very circumstantial account 

 in Daniel's Rural Sports of a very large tench taken from 

 a piece of water which had been made the receptacle of waste 

 wood and rubbish for many years. Orders having been given 

 to have this pond cleared out, nobody expected to find 

 in it any fish, except perhaps a few eels ; but to the general 

 surprise, when the water was run off some 400 tench, 

 and as many perch, were laid dry. Then, in a hole under 



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