824 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
Cyprinus cultratus, Lin., Syst. Nat., ed. X, tom. I, p. 326; 
Bl., Fiscli. Deutschl., pt I, p. 255, tab. XXXVII; Retz., 
Fn. Suec., Lin., p. 360; Pall., Zoogr. Ross. Asiat., tom. 
Ill, p. 331; Nilss., Prodr. Ichthyol. Scand., p. 32; Abass. 
( Pelecus ), 1. c.; Cuv., Val. ( Leuciscus ), Hist. Nat. Poiss., 
vol. XVII, p. 330; Ivr. (Pelecus), Damn. Fisk., vol. Ill, p. 
511; Nilss. ( Abramis , subg. Chela ex. Buchan.), Skand. 
Fn., Fisk., p. 340; Kessl. (Pelecus), Bull. Soc. Natur. Mosc., 
vol. XXIX, I (1856), p. 376; Hckl, Kn., Siisswasserf. 
Osir. Mon., p. 126; Dyb., Cypr. Livl., p. 153; Sieb., 
Siisswasserf. Mitteleur., p. 152; Mgrn, Finl., Fiskfn. (disp. 
Helsingf.), p. 43; Gthr, Cat. Brit. Mits., Fish., vol. VII, 
p. 330; Bncke, Fiscli., Fischer., Fischz. 0., W. Preass., 
p. 125; Mela, Vert. Fenn., p. 337, tab. X; M6b., Hcke, 
Fiscli. Osts., p. 121; Grimm, Fish., Hunt. Russ. Wat., pp. 
16 et 22; Mela, Sundm., Finl. Fisk., tab. XXVII; Lillj., 
Sv., Norg. Fn., Fisk., vol. Ill, p. 324. 
The ‘Ziege’ attains even in the North a length of 
4 dm.; but in Southern Russia, where it apparently 
has its true home, it sometimes measures, according to 
Kessler, as much as 6 dm. The elongated and com- 
pressed form of the body is most suggestive of a lean 
Herring, but the most characteristic external features 
are the almost straight dorsal margin and regularly 
arcuate belly, without the more or less sharp angles 
which we have seen in the protiles of most of the pre- 
ceding Cyprinoids. Furthermore the form differs from 
that of our other Cyprinoids in the strong elongation 
of the forepart of the trunk, for in no other Scandi- 
navian member of the family is the preabdominal length 
more than 3 / 10 of the length of the body. The greatest 
depth in adult specimens is somewhat less than 7 5 of 
the length of the body (about 19 % in our specimens, 
which are 22 — 36 cm. long); the greatest thickness 
about '/a — 4 /<)> and the least depth of the tail about 1 / 3 , 
of the greatest depth of the body. 
The head also measures somewhat less than 7s of 
the length of the body, and is characterized principally 
by the above-mentioned relation to the dorsal muscles, 
the origin of which extends forward over the forehead. 
The eyes are large and set rather low, almost as in 
the Zope. Their longitudinal diameter, which even in 
adult specimens is somewhat, though only slightly, 
greater than the length of the snout, measures a little 
more than 74 (28 — 26 %) of the length of the head. 
The postorbital length of the head is about half its 
entire length. The position of the nostrils is normal. 
The sides of the snout (the preorbital bones) are re- 
markable for the distinct ducts belonging to the sub- 
orbital branch of the cephalic system of the lateral 
line. The shape and position of the mouth we have 
already described. The length of the upper jaw from 
the tip of the snout is somewhat less than the least 
depth of the tail, but the length of the lower jaw is 
perceptibly greater than the latter, measuring about 
42 % of the length of the head. Both the operculum 
and the preoperculum are comparatively large, and the 
latter is distinguished by the rectangular form of its 
hind inferior corner. The gill-openings are large, the 
branchiostegal membranes coalescing with the isthmus 
rather near each other and in a line with the posterior 
orbital margin. The gill-rakers are strong and rather 
scattered. The outer row on the first branchial arch 
contains about 17 or 18, the inferior pointed, the su- 
perior flat and branched or lobulate at the tip. 
The dorsal fin is remarkable both for its small 
size and its backward position. It begins almost ver- 
tically above the origin of the anal fin, at a distance 
from the tip of the snout measuring about 64 % of the 
length of the body. Its base is equal to the longi- 
tudinal diameter of the eye (in our specimens 5‘3 — 5 % 
of the length of the body) and measures about half of 
its height in front, which is nearly 1 1 — 97 2 % °f the 
length of the body. It is sharply and obliquely trun- 
cate, with the upper posterior margin someAvhat con- 
cave. The anal fin is more deeply concave, reminding 
us of the Garpike, with the anterior part prolongated 
to a lobe, but with the posterior part of almost uni- 
form height. Its base measures about 2 1 1 / 2 — 22 %, and 
its height in front about 12 — 11 %, of the length of 
the body. The caudal fin is deeply forked, with pointed 
lobes, the lower somewhat longer than the upper. Its 
middle rays occupy about 7 % of the length of the 
body, and measure a little more than 1 / 3 of that of 
the longest caudal rays. 
The shape of the pectoral fins too — expanded at 
the base and incised at the lower margin — calls to 
mind the Garpike or, still more, the Horse Mackerel; 
and they are remarkable, as in the latter of these two 
species, for their great length, 29 — 28 % of that of 
the body and only slightly less than the preabdominal 
length. The ventral fins, which are inserted half-way 
along the body, are also more pointed than in the rest 
of the Scandinavian Cyprinoids. Their length, which 
measures about 12 — 127 2 % of that of the body, is less 
than the postabdominal length, though the latter is 
remarkably small, being only about 1 6 1 / 2 — 15 % of the 
length of the body. 
The scales are thin and deciduous; they vary 
greatly in size and shape on different parts of the 
