CLASS y. PISCES: ORDER 3. TELEOSTEA. 
476 
their larv£e, and molluscous animals. It is small, rarely exceeding eight inches in length, and 
affords excellent sport to young anglers. It spawns in May, among stones in shallow water. The 
Thames fishermen take great numbers in casting nets. The Niagara Gudgeon, G. cataractce, 
found near the Falls of Niagara, is five inches long. 
Genus TINCA : Tinea, includes the Tench, T. vulgaris, found in most European lakes and 
rivers. . It is exceedingly tenacious of life ; 
loves foul and weedy water; thrives 
even where the mud is of an intolerably 
fetid odor, and so black as to color the 
fish with its own inky hue. It is easily 
propagated, and is esteemed a useful fish, 
the flesh being tolerably good. It spawns 
about the middle of June. 
Genus ABRAMIS : Abramis, includes 
the Bream, A. brama, an inhabitant of 
the lakes and rivers of Europe generally. 
It is very abundant in the larger lakes 
and quiet rivers of Great Britain and Ire- 
land. It swims in shoals ; feeds on worms, 
with other soft-bodied animals, and some 
vegetable substances. Its flesh is insipid, 
but the breeding of it is encouraged to 
feed pike and other voracious fishes. In 
Ireland it grows to the Aveight of twelve 
and fourteen pounds ; one pound is the 
common weight. 
The Yariegated Bream, A. versicolor, 
is an American species, of a silvery color, 
varied with blue, green, and golden. It 
is five to seven inches long, and common 
in the rivers and ponds of New York and 
by young fishermen in considerable num- 
It is sometimes called Yellow-bellied Perch, 
THE TENCH. 
THE BEEAM. 
New England. Its flesh is savory, and it is caught 
bers. It is often seen in the markets of New York, 
and also Wind-Fisli, as it is seen when a flaw of wind ruffles the surface to dart by hundreds, 
and often thousands, to the top of the water. The Common Pond-fish, Pomoiis vulgaris, abun- 
dant in all parts of the country, shares with this the title of Bream, and also the popular 
designation of PumpJcin-seed. 
Genus LEUCISCUS 
Leuciscus, includes the Ide, L. idus, inhabiting large rocky lakes, from 
which it seeks its way into the rivers 
to spawn in April or May. It feeds 
and the flesh 
on worms and herbage, 
is of good flavor. It is common 
m 
Northern Europe. 
The Roach, L. rutihcs, is abund- 
ant in the rivers of the temperate 
parts of Europe. It is gregarious, 
and feeds like the preceding. It at- 
tains the weight of one to two pounds. 
In the proverb, sound as a roach,^^ 
he last word is to be pronounced rock. The English also say sound as a trout. The Italians 
ave a similar proverb — healthy as a fish ; and the French say, as hale as a garden, the latter 
eing their name for the ide. 
The Dace, L. vulgaris, also called Dare and Dart, feeds on worms and other soft substances ; 
THE IDE. 
