CYPRINID^. 159 



B. III. D. 21-25 (yViPif ). P- 15-16, V. 8, A. 7-8 (»i»), C. 20, L, 1. 35-40, L. tr. 

 6/9, Vert. 21-21/16-17. 



Length of head 4 to 4|, of caudal fin 5f to 6, height of body 3 to 4^ in the 

 total length. Eye — small, situated a little before the middle of the length of the 

 head, 2^ diameters from the end of the snout, and 3 apart (in an example nearly 

 17 inches long). Opercle strongly striated. The proportions of the various 

 parts of this fish are exceedingly diverse, dependent upon age, sex, and locality. 

 Barbels — of moderate length, those at the maxilla the longest, and almost equal- 

 ling one diameter of the orbit. Lips thick and leathery. The maxilla reaches to 

 beneath the front edge of the orbit. Fins — dorsal commences rather nearer to the 

 snout than to the base of the caudal, its first two or three or rarely four rays are 

 bony, the last being serrated posteriorly, while the anterior portion of the fin, 

 ■which is the highest, equals about two-fifths the height of the body below it. 

 Pectoral situated low down, its length equals about that of the head without the 

 snout, and it does not extend to above the ventral, which latter reaches half-way 

 to the anal. First two or three anal rays osseous, the last being serrated posteriorly. 

 Caudal deeply forked. Scales — large, 6^ to 6 rows between the lateral-line and 

 the base of the ventral fin. Colours — vary, usually brownish or with a bluish 

 tinge along the back, with golden or coppery reflections along the sides. Some have 

 been described of a whitish tint due, perhaps, to age, others as having black 

 spots caused, perhaps occasionally, by parasites. 



Varieties in form. — The body in some is much more elongated than in others. 

 Some ichthyologists observe upon the existence of a second continental species 

 Cyprinus hollarii or G. striatus, but which is a hybrid between G. carpio and 

 Garassius vulgaris, having some very short barbels : it is a bony and inferior 

 fish, and is knowoi in some parts of Germany as the " poor man's carp." 

 The fins are subject to modifications, being very much prolonged in some forms, 

 as will be more particularly alluded to when treating of the gold carp. The 

 chief German varieties of carp which are cultivated are : — (1) The common 

 carp ; (2) the mirror-carp, or carp king, Cyprinus rex cyprinorum, G. specularis, 

 G. macrolepidotus, the most highly improved breed in central Germany. A small 

 head, thick body, large scales, and tendency to rapidly grow large. In this race 

 some pisciculturists make a speciality of raising forms with very few scales, some- 

 times restricted to one row along the lateral-line, in others to a strip along the 

 back. When in the water the mirror carp has its back of a bluish colour tinged 

 with gray or greenish, but more decidedly blue than either of the other two 

 varieties. It is said to be the most hardy form, and to bear injuries the best : 

 (3) the leather-carp, Cyprinus nudus, C. alepidotus, C. coriaceus, or G. nudus, in 

 which scales are absent, but the skin is very much thickened, its a well defined 

 race and not a mirror-carp denuded of scaling : these are sometimes of a golden- 

 brown colour and are very fashionable in Germany. There have likewise been 

 various forms of monstrosities described. 



Names. — Carp has been derived from the Greek term " kuprinos " itself said 

 to be from " kupris " or " Cyprus," where Aprodite or Venus was first worshipped, 

 and may have been given to this fish in order to symbolize its extraordinary 

 fecundity. Holme (1688) gives Seizling as yearlings, next a sprole or sprale from 

 two years of age, terms taken from Gesner's Swiss names of this fish, they not 

 being called " karpf " until four years old. In (Whole Art of Fishing, 1719) the 

 last century we are told it was called the fresh-water fox and queen of rivers. 

 Cerpyn, Welsh. De Karper, Dutch. La carpe, French. 



Habits. — Hardy and tenacious of life, cautious and wary in a state of nature, 

 but readily tamed so that it will even take food from the hand. It mostly fre- 

 quents ponds, canals, sluggish pieces of water, or slow flowing rivers, being 

 especially partial to localities possessing soft, marly, or muddy bottoms. It can 

 also live in water unsuited to other fish, as the pools of bog meadows or sloughs, 

 though the kind vrill be inferior. During the summer it may be seen lying among the 

 weeds at the surface of the water, at which it lazily sucks making a very distinct 

 noise which has been likened to that produced by a pig. Or else a number may 

 be perceived near the surface quietly swimming about in a shoal, or returning 



