2]4 



TENCH. 



Cyprinus Tinea. C. mucosus olivaceo-nigricans, squamis minimis^ 

 Cauda subintegra. 



Mucous blackish-olive Carp^ with very small scales^ and nearly- 

 even tail. 



Cyprinus Tinea. C. pinna ani radiis undecim*, cauda integra, 



corpore mucosOj cirris duobus. Lin. Syst. Nat. p. 526. 

 Cyprinus 'squamis parvis, pinnis erassis. Block, t. 14. 

 Tench. Fenn, Brit. Zool. 



This fish appears to be a native of most parts of 

 the globe^ inhabiting chiefly large stagnant waters 

 with a muddy bottom, and varying considerably in 

 the tinge of its colours according to the situation in 

 which it resides. Its general length is about twelve 

 or fourteen inches, but, like most other fishes, it is 

 occasionally found of far greater magnitude, and we 

 are told that it has sometimes been found to mea- 

 sure two or three feet in length, and to weigh no 

 less than eight, ten, or even twenty poundsf. Its 

 usual colour is a deep blackish olive, accompanied 

 by a slight gilded cast ; the abdomen being paler 

 or yellower than the other parts, and the fins, 

 which are thick and opake, are of a dull violet- 

 colour : the shape of the fish is thick, and the skin 

 is covered, like that of an Eel, with a tenacious 

 mucus or slime, beneath which appear the scales, 

 which are very small, and closely affixed to the 



* By some mistake in the Systema Naturae the number is said 

 to be twenty "five. 



f Salviaa mentions Tenches of twenty pounds weight. 



