776 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
a handsome bright red, but this tint is not constant, 
seeming, on the contrary, to have some hxed relation 
to age, probably to the seasons, and above all to the 
nature of the water inhabited by the fish. In some of 
the great lakes, and also in the island-belt, the iris is 
usually pale orange, with a spot of darker red above 
the pupil. In young specimens it is very pale with a 
faint dash of red; but in old Roach that live in small 
lakes with thick water, the iris is often of so bright a 
red that it has given rise to the saying “rodogd som 
en mart ” (red-eyed as a Roach). The dorsal and caudal 
fins are of a plain, light olive brown. The other fins 
are yellowish, more or less tinged with red, especially 
the ventral and anal, whose rays are of a, still brighter 
red between the middle and the tip. The colour of the 
fins is, however, highly variable, and seems to be sub- 
ject to the same influences as that of the eyes. 
The geographical range of the Roach embraces the 
whole of Europe north of the Alps and the Pyrenees, 
except Ireland and the west and north of Norway. 
The species is extremely common, according to Grimm, 
in the Sea of Azov and the Caspian Sea. It is also spread 
throughout Siberia,, from the east of which region spe- 
cimens were secured by Humboldt and Ehrenberg. 
Lilljeborg found it at Archangel, where it was also 
met with by Lieutenant Sandeberg. Still it is 'want- 
ing, according to Reuter, in the White Sea as well as 
in the Arctic Ocean. The Roach is one of the com- 
monest and most plentiful fishes not only in the lakes, 
rivers, and streams of Sweden, from Tornea Lappmark 
to Scania, but also in the island-belt of the Baltic, as 
well as in the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland. In Swe- 
den its range is roughly co-extensive with that of the 
Perch, and it ascends high among the mountains. Ek- 
strom found the species in a small tarn on Akkalis- 
pudive, a mountain in Pitea Lappmark". 
In summer the Roach frequents weedy shallows 
near shore. It passes the winter in deep water, but as 
soon as the great lakes are open in spring, it ascends 
in large shoals to the shores, where it spawns at the 
beginning of May. In their upward course the shoals 
are so distributed that the males lead the way, and 
consequently are the first to arrive at the spawning- 
place, being hence called Ismort b (Ice Roach). The 
females, which are known as Lekmort (Spawning Roach) 
or Lofmort (Leaf Roach), arrive about a fortnight later. 
They now join the males and commence spawning 
among twigs and weeds, often “in water so shallow,” 
says Sundevall, “that it seems hardly sufficient to 
cover the spawning fish.” The spawning lasts from 3 
to 9 days, according to the weather. During the ope- 
ration the fish pack themselves in a dense mass, and 
move towards the surface with such rapidity as to pro- 
duce a quick hissing noise, interrupted and repeated at 
brief intervals. In Lakes Som men and Wetter the older 
Roach often spawn, according to Widegren, on a stony 
bottom some distance from land. The roe is fine, con- 
taining numerous eggs: in a gravid female 18 cm. long 
the eggs, when almost ripe, were about 1 V 2 nim. in 
diameter; and in a female 275 grammes in weight, 
with ovaries weighing 60 grammes, Lund" counted 
nearly 72,000 eggs. The ova are deposited on the 
twigs and the weeds at the bottom, “often so near the 
surface,” says Sundevall, “that they are now and then 
left dry, but are none the worse for this.” They are 
hatched in 10 — 14 days. “The fry generally lie still 
at the bottom, resting on their side, or supported by 
and as it were suspended from plants, straws, and the 
like. Gradually they begin to move and to swim a 
little better, and after the yolk has disappeared, which 
apparently happens in 8 — 10 days, they keep swimming 
about in dense shoals among the reeds. At the age ot 
two months they are 15 — 20 mm. long and fully de- 
veloped in external form.” (Sundev.). When three 
years old, they have attained a length of about 100 — 
125^ mm. 
The Roach leads a sociable life, and roves along 
the shores all the summer in large and small troops. 
It seems as though companionship inspires it with con- 
fidence, for it is not very shy. It is indeed afraid ot 
noise, but soon returns to the spot from which it has 
been frightened away. The composition of the water 
in which it lives, exercises great influence not only on 
its appearance, as we have mentioned above, but also 
on its flavour. When the Roach has its home in pure 
water, the flesh is white and free from taint; in fish 
“ In Switzerland, according to Fatio, the Roach in a natural state hardly ascends higher than the lakes about 700 metres above the 
level of the sea; but it has been planted there in lakes 1,160 metres above the same level. 
0 Also Badfislc (Bather), see Lund, Vet.-Akad. Handl. 1761, p. 186. 
c L. c., p. 194. 
d 135 mm., according to Reuter. 
