174 DIVISION I. VERTEBRAL ANIMALS.— CLASS IV. PISCES. 
of the body is thick and round; the irides tinged with red, the gill-covers 
with green and silver. The lower jaw is shorter than the upper; at cach 
corner of the mouth is a single beard; the back olive, spotted with black ; 
the side line straight; the sides beneath that silvery; the belly white. The 
tail is forked; that, as well as the dorsal fin, is spotted with black. 
Apramis. — The Bream. There are two species — the Carp Bream and 
the White Bream. The first is largest, and most highly esteemed ; and the 
other is of no value except as food for more interesting and yaluable 
species. 
The Carp Bream is found in all the great lakes, and in rivers which have 
a gentle current, and a bottom composed of marl, clay, and herbage ; and 
it abides in the deepest parts. It is taken mostly under the ice; and this 
fishery is so considerable that, in some of the lakes belonging to Prussia, 
there have been taken to the value of two hundred pounds at a time; they 
are also caught in great quantities in Holstein, Mecklenburg, Livonia, and 
Sweden. In a lake near Nordkiceping, there were taken at one time, in 
March, 1749, no less than fifty thousand, weighing cighteen thousand two 
hundred pounds. — It is extremely deep, and thin in proportion to its length. 
The back rises much, and is very sharp at the top. The head and mouth 
are small. The scales are very large; the sides flat and thin. The dorsal 
fin has eleven rays, the second of which is the longest; that fin, as well as 
all the rest, are of a dusky color; the back of the same hue; the sides yel- 
lowish. The tail is very large, and of the form of a crescent. 
Casrosromus. — The Suckers. This genus has a single dorsal fin; gill- 
membranes three rayed; head and operculum smooth; jaws toothless and 
retractile ; mouth beneath the snout: lips plaited, lobed, or carunculated, 
suitable for sucking; and throat with pectinated teeth. 
oe 
All of the species are American, and very common in our rivers and 
ponds. Although not much prized by fishermen, I have often eaten them, 
and found them very palatable. The Black Sucker (CQ. nigricans), how- 
ever, is the best for the table. They appear to feed on the slimy substance 
which gathers on the surfaces of rocks, logs, and other objects sunk in the 
rivers. I have frequently seen long rows of them attached by their sucking 
mouths to these sludgy surfaces, their fins slightly agitated, and their bodies 
undulating in the current, reflecting the sunbeams in numerous lustrous and 
beautiful combinations. 
CO. Bostoniensis. —This is the common Sucker, too well known to ev- 
ery boy of the United States to need description. 
C. Tuberculatus. —The Horned Sucker. Although this fish has been 
taken in the rivers and ponds of the New England States, it is not very 
common. Le Sueur describes a specimen found in Pennsylvania. It 
