164 PHYSOSTOMI. 



Genus II. — Carassius, Nilsson. 



Branchiostegals three : pseudobranchim present. Snout obtuse and rounded. 

 Mouth anterior, arched, and rather narrow : lips thin. No barbels. Pharyngeal 

 teeth compressed and in a single row, 4/4 (JDentes scalpriformes, Bonap.). Dorsal 

 fin commencing opposite the ventrals, having many rays (15-25), its last undivided 

 one being osseous and serrated : last undivided anal ray osseous and normally 

 serrated. Scales of moderate size. Lateral-line continued to the base of the caudal 

 fin. 



The two species of this genus found in Great Britain are possibly merely the 

 eastern and. western representatives derived at a remote period from a common 

 ancestry : the Carassius vulgaris being more essentially Western Asiatic and 

 European, while the C. auratus is of Chinese and Japanese extraction. Very 

 similar in external appearances, it is likewise remarkable that the latter, of which 

 I possess specimens from near Tunam, in China, are of the same green colour 

 in rivers as the wild European form. The G. vulgaris generally has a more 

 elevated body, and from 31 to 35* rows of scales along the lateral-line, while the 

 gold carp has usually from 25 to 30 rows. Both, however, are subject to almost 

 innumerable variations as to proportions, while they are likewise somewhat 

 intimately related to the common carp, Cyprinus carpio, with which they inter- 

 breed, to the deterioration of the breed in carp fisheries. 



1. Carassius vulgaris, Plate CXXX, fig. 1. 



Karass, Gesner, De Aquat. p. 318; Aldrov. p. 644. Carassius, "Willughby, 

 p. 249 ; Ray, p. 116. Cyprinus, Sp. Artedi, Genera, p. 4, no. 7, Synom. p. 5, 

 no. 5, and Species, p. 29, no. 15 ; Klein, Miss, v, p. 59, no. 4, t. xi, f. 1 ; Gronov. 

 Zooph. no. 343. Crucian, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 364, pi. lxxii. 



. Cyprinus carassius, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 526 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1416 ; Bloch, 

 Fische Deuts. i, p. 96, t. xi ; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 192, pi. lxxviii, f. 322 ; 

 Bl. Schn. p. 438 ; Lacep. v, p. 549 ; Pall. Zoogr. Ross. -As. iii, p. 297 ; Turton, 

 Brit. Fauna, p. 108 ; Fries och Ekstr. Skand. Fisk. p. 140, t. xxxi ; Ekstr. Fische 

 Morko, p. 58 ; Cuv. and Val. xvi, p. 82, pi. 459 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 403 ; Tarrell, 

 Brit. Fish. (ed. 2) i, p. 355, c. fig. ; White, Catal. p. 59 ; Nilss. Skand. Fauna, 

 iv, p. 290 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 179 ; Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 104, pi. x, f. 2 ; 

 Siebold, Suss. w. f . p. 98 ; Malm, Fauna, p. 556 ; Canestrini, Faun. Ital. p. 13 ; 

 Giglioli, Cat. Pesc. Ital. p. 43. 



Carassius vulgaris, Nord. in Demid. Voy. Russ. Mer. iii, p. 479 ; Kroyer, 

 Dan. Fiske, iii, p. 294, c. fig. ; Heckel and Kner, Suss. w. f. p. 67 ; Siebold, Suss. 

 w. f . p. 98 ; Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 29 ; Feddersen, p. 82 ; Houghton, Brit. Fresh- 

 water Fishes, p. 19, c. fig. ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 374. 



Carassius Linnazi, Bonap. Cat. Met. Cipr. d'Eur. p. 3 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish, 

 (ed. 3) i, p. 364, c. fig. 



Cyprinopsis carassius, Blanchard, Poiss. France, p. 336, fig. 67. 



Crucian carp, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 28, pi. clxxxiv. 



Variety. — Prussian Carp. 



Cyprinus, Klein, Pise. Miss, v, t. xi, f. 2. The gibele, Penn. Brit. Zool. 

 (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 480, pi. lxxxiii. 



Cyprinus gibelio, Gmel. Linn. p. 1417; Bloch, I.e. i, p. 71, t. xii ; Bl. Schn. 

 p. 438 ; Lacep. v, p. 64 ; Ekstrom, I.e. p. 64 ; Fleming, Brit. An. p. 185 ; Jenyns, 

 Man. p. 402 ; Cuv. and Val. xvi, p. 90 ; Yarrell, I.e. (ed. 1) i, p. 311, c. fig. (ed. 

 2) i, p. 358 (ed. 3) i, p. 368 ; Nilss. I.e. p. 294 ; Heckel and Kner, I.e. p. 70 ; 

 Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 180. 



* Out of six examples from Kent one had 28, one had 29, three 30 and one 32 rows of scales 

 along the lateral-line. 



