128 NATURAL HIS 'TOM Y. 



waters. It burrows about in. the loose soil on the river bottom, and feeds on worms, fresh- water 

 mollusca, water-plants, and small fishes. The eggs are deposited in May or June on stones or water- 

 plants in shallow water. They extend in a string, and may number eight thousand in a full-grown 

 female. They are hatched in from ten days to a fortnight, and reproduce at the fourth year. In cold 

 weather the fish becomes torpid and assembles in great numbers in sheltered places, when it is easily 

 taken with a hand-net. It is even stated that in the Danube ten cart-loads have been taken at one 

 time by divers, who captured the fish in their hands. The usual length is about fifteen inches, though 

 it sometimes reaches three feet. It is stated by Heckel and Kner that the flesh is well flavoured 

 when the fish has been previously kept for some days in pure water. The upper part of the body is 

 greenish-brown, becoming yellower at the sides, and the belly is white. The caudal fins are brownish, 

 and the pectoral, ventral, anal fins, and lips are red. The Barbel appears in the arms of Margaret of 

 Anjou, Queen of Henry VI., foundress of Queen's College, Cambridge. Several species occur in Spain, 

 Italy, Angola, the Jordan, and the Lake of Galilee, and a large number in the Indian Archipelago. 

 A considerable group of species, found in India and Western Africa, is covered with very large scales. 

 Barb us heteronema, from Borneo, has the barbels subdivided with long fringes. 



The genus Barbichthys has the lips thin, with four small barbels ; below the eyes the ring of sub- 

 orbital bones is so greatly developed as to entirely cover the cheek. The only species known is from 

 Java, Sumatra, and Borneo. Two genera, also from the Eastern. Archipelago, are characterised by 

 having the eyes surrounded with a broad circular fatty eyelid. The genera Oreinus and Schizothorax 

 have the vent and anral fin enclosed in a sheath, which is covered with enlarged scales ; the pharyngeal 

 teeth are in three rows. Both genera are found in the mountain streams of the Himalayas and 

 adjacent regions. Gymnocypris dobula is a Carp with the body naked, but the vent and anal fin are 

 enclosed in a scaly sheath. Diptychus has the body only partly covered with scales. It also is 

 Himalayan. 



THE GUDGEON.* 



The genus Gobio is entirely European, and is represented by only two species Gobio uranoscopus, 

 which is confined to Austria, and the Common Gudgeon, which is more characteristic of Western Europe. 

 This well-known fish has two rows of pharyngeal teeth, which are hooked ; there may be two teeth 

 in each row, or five in one and three in the other. The barbels are small and placed at the cornel's 

 of the mouth ; the snout is blunt, the profile convex above, the eye behind the middle of the head. 

 In England it is found in most slow rivers that run over gravel, is gregarious, rarely exceeds 

 eight inches in length, and is caught freely with the small red-worm. They are regarded as excel- 

 lent eating, though, being small, are not much prized. The Gudgeon spawns in May. Yarrell quotes 

 Valenciennes' experiment upon the effect of diminished pressure upon the Gudgeon, in which the fish 

 were placed in a basin under the receiver of an air-pump. The fish could endure to have the pressure 

 reduced to one-half, or even a quarter, without suffering, unless the exhaustion were too rapid, though 

 on being returned to ordinary atmospheric conditions the belly appeared greatly shrunken, and the 

 swim-bladder empty ; but in six hours condition was restored, and the swim-bladder again filled with 

 nitrogen gas. 



Ceratichthys, Pimephales, Hyborhynchus, and many other genera are limited to North America. 

 Oochlognathus ornatus, from Texas, is remarkable for the jaws being developed into spoon-shaped 

 expansions, one on each side of the upper and lower jaw. These bony masses have their edges sharp 

 and cutting so as to form a beak, which closely resembles that of Tetrodon. 



The third group in this family is named Rotheichthyina. It includes fishes in which the 

 dorsal fin is placed behind the ventral fin. The anal fin is very short, and the abdomen 

 compressed ; the mouth has no barbels, and the pharyngeal teeth are in a triple series. The only 

 member of the group is the Rotheichthys microlepis, from Borneo and Stimatra. 



The fourth group, named Leptobarbina, has the lateral line running along the lower half of the 

 tail ; the dorsal fin is opposite to the ventral fin. There are four barbels. The only member of this 

 group is the Leptobarbus hoevenii, also from Sumatra and Borneo. 



The fifth group, named Rasborina, also has the lateral line on the lower half of the tail, but the 

 dorsal fin is behind the origin of the ventrals, and the abdomen is not compressed. The fishes are 



* Golio fluviatilis. 



