BONY FISHES AND GANOIDS. ^g^ 



weight, I am well within the mark when I state that the mahasir reaches 

 nearly, if not quite, 100 lbs. The largest mahasir I ever heard of as having 

 been taken with a trolling bait was 93 lbs. ; and with fly, and that turned the 

 scale at 62 lbs. But such monsters as these are very seldom landed with 

 the rod." 



Nearly allied are the two species of gudgeons, constituting the genus Gohio, 

 which differ from the carps in that the pharyngeal, or throat-teeth, are 

 arranged in one or two series instead of forming three rows. In these 

 familiar fish the whole of the body is invested with scales of moderate size, 

 and the mouth, which is inferior in position, has the bones on its upper 

 margin protrusile, and there are two barbels. Gudgeon are found on the 

 pebbly beds of clear streams, where they feed on minute aquatic animals. 



The numerous kinds of so-called white fish, such as the dace, roach, and 

 chub, belong to the genus Leuciscns, and, in common with certain other 

 genera, difier from the foregoing types in the conformation of the anal fin, 

 which is either of moderate length or short, includes frcmi eight to eleven 

 branching rays, and does not extend so far forwards as the line of the hinder 

 edge of the dorsal. In the preceding forms the same fin usually has only five or 

 six branched rays. The white fish have no barbels, neither is there a cutting 

 edge to their jaws ; while the throat-teeth are arranged in one or two rows, 

 and the dorsal fin is short, and without a bony ray. White fish are found 

 throughout the fresh waters of the cooler portions of the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere, but their species are more numerous in Europe and Asia than in 

 America. Their form and habits are sufficiently familiar to all. Nearly 

 allied to the white fish is the golden-coloured tench, which represents a 

 genus {Tinea) distinguished by the presence of a pair of barbels to the mouth, 

 the slight extent to which the tail is notched, and the minute size of the 

 scales. In this fish the lateral line is complete, and runs nearly in the middle 

 of each side of the tail, as it does in such of the white fish as have it fully 

 developed. Certain allied fishes from the Old World, constituting the genus 

 Chondro6ioma, may be recognised by the sharp cutting edge of the lower jaw, 

 which is sheathed in horn. None of these fishes are British, as is also the 

 case with the so-called bitterlings (Jihodeus), of which there are four species. 

 The breams (Abramis) bring us, however, to another genus with an English 

 representative. In this and certain other genera of the carp tribe, the anal 

 fin is considerably elongated, and some portion at least of the lower border 

 of the abdomen is compressed to such an extent as to form a sharp keel-like 

 edge. In the bream the short and spineless dorsal fin is situated over the 

 space between the pelvics and anal, the scales are of moderate size, and the 

 lateral line runs somewhat below the middle line of the tail. As in the white 

 fish, the bones of the upper jaw are capable of protrusion, and some members 

 of the genus present the remarkable peculiarity of being " underhung," that 

 is to say, they have the lower jaw somewhat longer than the upper. Passing 

 over several allied species, mention must be made of the beautiful pearly little 

 fish known as bleak (Alburnns), of which there are a considerable number of 

 species inhabiting the fresh waters of Europe and Western Asia. In addition 

 to the silvery lustre from which they take their name, tfiese little fishes are 

 specially characterised by the slender form of their gill-rakers, which are 

 placed close together ; the body being rather slender, the lateral line running 

 somewhat below the middle of the tail, and the lower jaw somewhat exceed- 

 ing the upper in length. Formerly the scales of the bleak were employed 

 for making artificial pearls, the pearly matter being washed off, and after- 



