i;6 BRITISH FRESHWATER FISHES 



The name Carp is represented by similar words 

 in many languages, such as the German Karpf, 

 the French Carpe, the Celtic Cerpyn^ and the Latin 

 Cyprinus or Cyprianus, probably derived from 

 Cyprus, the abode of Venus, in allusion to the 

 fecundity of some fish of this family. 



The Common Carp and the Crucian Carp form 

 a hybrid, which is represented in the British Museum 

 Collection by several examples, including a fine 

 specimen, 1 6 inches long, from Norwich ; one of 

 half that length is shown on PL XXIII, Fig. 2. 



This hybrid differs from the Carp especially in 

 that the posterior barbels are quite short and the 

 anterior ones very small or absent, whilst the dorsal 

 spine is more finely serrated and the caudal fin is 

 less deeply emarginate. The pharyngeal teeth are 

 variable, forming one to three series, often two, 

 with four teeth in the inner and one in the outer 

 row. The branched rays in the dorsal fin number 

 seventeen to twenty, the scales in the lateral line 

 thirty-three to thirty-eight. 



THE CRUCIAN CARP (Carassius carassius or 

 C. vulgaris) differs from the Common Carp in that 

 barbels are absent and the pharyngeal teeth are 

 somewhat compressed and are arranged in a single 

 series. The dorsal fin is more elevated, the branched 

 rays, fourteen to twenty-one in number, at first 

 increasing in length, sometimes nearly to the middle 

 of the fin, whilst the spine is slender and feebly 

 serrated ; the caudal fin is but slightly emarginate. 

 The body is usually deep, but varies considerably, 

 and is sometimes as elongate as in the Carp, the 

 name Prussian Carp being applied to fish of this 



