BREAM. 
813 
The Bream is one of the largest Swedish Cypri- 
noids. The ordinary length, including the whole cau- 
dal tin, is 23 — 35 cm.; but it is not very unusual to 
meet with Bream 5 dm. long, and according to the 
reports sent in to the Swedish Fisheries Commission 
of 1881 — 83 the species attains in many parts of Swe- 
den a length of about 59 cm. and in Scania even of 
74 cm. The weight, on the same authority, is some- 
times 1 8 1 / 2 Sw. lbs. (nearly 8 kilo). 
The body is compressed, thin, and deep, the 
greatest depth, which occurs at the beginning of the 
dorsal fin, being about 34 — 38 % of the length, and 
the greatest thickness about 27 — 36 % of the greatest 
depth. The least depth, just in front of the caudal 
fin, is about 9 J / 2 (in young specimens sometimes 97 3 ) 
— 10y 3 % of the length of the body. The dorsal pro- 
file, which rises more or less sharply from the occiput, 
most abruptly if the fish be fat, from this point forms 
a regular curve to the first ray of the dorsal fin, where 
it makes an obtuse angle, afterwards descending almost 
in a straight line to the base of the caudal fin. The 
back is compressed and thin, but not carinated, all the 
way to the dorsal fin; from this fin to the caudal it 
is somewhat plumper and convex. The belly, as usual, 
is flat to the ventral fins and carinated from this point 
to the anal aperture. From the isthmus to the ventral 
fins the ventral line is almost straight, but slopes a 
little towards the anal aperture, where it forms an angle 
more obtuse than the dorsal; from the vent it rises al- 
most in a straight line to the end of the anal fin, be- 
tween which point and the caudal fin it curves inwards. 
The head is as a rule equal in size to that of the 
White Bream, measuring 2 1 a / 2 — 20 % of the length of 
the body; but in young specimens, even those about 2 
dm. long, its length may be 23 or 24 % of that of the 
body. It is so much compressed that the greatest thick- 
ness, across the opercula, is about equal to the post- 
orbital length, which in young Bream is somewhat less, 
in old rather more, than half of its entire length. The 
forehead from the occiput to the nostrils is straight, 
broad, and convex, the breadth of the interorbital space 
being about 8 — 9 % of the length of the body or 36 — 41 
% of the length of the head. Both on the forehead and 
the sides of the head the pores belonging to the system 
of the lateral line are quite distinct. From the occiput 
two parallel rows of pores (the frontorostral branches 
of the system, cf. fig. 104, p. 368) run along the fore- 
head to a point almost vertically above the eyes: these 
pores are 8 or 9 in number, and the first two or three 
lie somewhat within the line, as if they composed an 
independent row. Another row of similar pores (the 
suborbital branch of the system), the number of which 
is still greater, also begins at the occiput, a little be- 
low the former. This row bends up towards the fore- 
head above the cheek, then descends below the eye, 
and ends half-way between the tip of the snout and 
the nostrils. Similar pores also occur at the posterior 
and inferior margins of the preopercula and on the 
under surface of the lower jaw (the mandibular branch 
of the system). Above the nostrils lies the depression 
usually present in the Cyprinoids, terminating the mo- 
bile portion of the snout (see above), which is obtuse 
and projects only slightly beyond the mouth. The 
mouth is small and turned slightly upwards, but when 
it is opened, may be protruded to a considerable di- 
stance in a tubular form. When the mouth is closed, 
the upper jaw projects some way beyond the lower. 
The corner of the mouth lies in the perpendicular from 
the anterior margin of the nostrils. In this species too 
the length of the snout, which varies between about 6 
and 7 1 / 2 or nearly 8 % of the length of the body, or 
between 28 and 38 % of that of the head, is as a rule 
in young specimens about equal to, in old somewhat 
greater than, the length of the upper jaw from the 
middle of the tip of the snout. The length of the lower 
jaw varies between about 8 and nearly 10 % of that 
of the body, or between about 35 and 45 % of that of 
the head, and is greater than that of the suture be- 
tween the suboperculum and the operculum, and also 
more than 75 % of the least depth of the tail (76 — 
95 % in our specimens, which are between 17 and 47 
cm. long). The eyes are as a rule comparatively smaller 
than in the White Bream, their longitudinal diameter 
varying in our specimens between about 28 and 19 % 
of the length of the head. But this great reduction 
depends to a considerable extent on the fact that our 
largest Bream are more than twice the size of our 
largest White Bream. The position of the eyes, on the 
other hand, is essentially the same as in the White 
Bream. The nostrils, which in form are exactly like 
those of the White Bream, occupy in young Bream the 
same position as in the White Bream, but in old spe- 
cimens are removed by the prolongation of the snout 
comparatively nearer to the eyes. The gills, the oper- 
cula, the branchiostegal membrane and rays, resemble 
those of the White Bream. The gill-rakers are more 
