THE WHITE BREAM 203 



is composed of three simple and eight, exceptionally 

 seven or nine, branched rays ; the branched rays in 

 the anal fin number nineteen to twenty-four, and 

 the lower lobe of the caudal is a little longer than 

 the upper. The scales number forty-four to fifty 

 in the lateral line, eight to eleven in a transverse 

 series from the origin of the dorsal fin to the lateral 

 line, and five to six and a half between the lateral 

 line and the base of the pelvic fin. The coloration 

 is silvery white, with the back greenish and the fins 

 greyish. 



The White Bream inhabits Europe north of the 

 Alps and Pyrenees and extends into Western 

 Siberia ; in our country it appears to be confined 

 to eastward rivers from Yorkshire to Suffolk. 



This species attains a length of about a foot 

 and a weight of ij Ibs. The example figured 

 (PI. XXVIII), 9 inches long, is from the Cam. 



This species is found only in lakes or in slow- 

 running rivers, where it swims in shoals, often in 

 company with the Roach or Rudd. It feeds on or 

 near the bottom, eating weeds, insects, worms, little 

 shellfish, etc., and seems to have a curious habit of 

 swimming upwards after seizing food, so that the 

 angler becomes aware that one of these fish has 

 taken his bait by the float, relieved of the weight of 

 the shot, lying flat on the surface of the water. 

 During the summer the White Bream frequents 

 shallows, or places where the water is of moderate 

 depth, but in the winter it retires into deep water. 



The spawning usually takes place in May, when 

 the fish assemble on shallows near the shore and 

 splash about at the surface ; the eggs are deposited 

 on the weeds, to which they adhere. 



