248 NOTES ON PISH AND FISHING. 



Ichthyologically, as I have said, the tench is of the 

 same family as the carp. Like the rest of the 

 Cyprinidce, he has a fleshy mouth without teeth; but, 

 unlike his first cousin, the carp, who, as I said, has the 

 largest scales for his size of any fish, the tench has the 

 smallest, — so minute, indeed, that owing partly to the 

 objectionable slime with which he is covered, he seems 

 both to the eye and touch to have no scales at all, feeling 

 more like an eel than anything else, though,' by the way, 

 I do not wish to imply that eels have no scales. I take 

 him, however, to be a very handsome fish. His colouring 

 is very marked, though it is difficult to describe. Mr. 

 Pennell calls it a " very dark olive green," while another 

 authority terms it " a greenish yellow." I take the last 

 description to be the best, though it must be remembered 

 that tench vary in colouring according to the water from 

 which they are taken. There is certainly a golden hue 

 overspreading the best specimens of tench, but of a sub- 

 dued character, and I consider him altogether a much 

 handsomer fish than the carp for colour, and shape too, 

 for he is not afflicted with the somewhat " Eoman nose " 

 of his congener. The " golden " tench now acclimatized 

 among us are very handsome fish indeed. 



Like the carp, the tench is very prolific and tenacious 

 of life, and the habits of both are very similar. The 

 tench is found distributed over nearly all parts of Europe, 

 and, like the carp, he prefers stagnant waters to running. 



He does not, however, attain the size of his relative, 

 his extreme weight being seldom over 7 lbs. or 8 lbs. 

 under the most favourable circumstances, at least in 

 this country; and in small ponds he does not often 

 exceed 2 lbs. or 3 lbs. I have a record that in October, 



