252 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
species are held in no little fear by fishermen and bathers, attacks from these fishes being by 
no means rare. Their distribution is closely similar to that of the Serpent-eels. 
The Electric Eel is an extremely abundant fish in the rivers and lagoons of Brazil and 
the Guianas. It is the most powerful of the electric fishes, and attains a length of 6 feet. 
The electric organs of this fish are sufficiently strong to kill by^ their shock other fishes and 
even mammals. The traveler Humboldt is responsible for the statement, now generally dis- 
credited, that the Indians procured this fish by driving horses into the water, and so provmking 
such violent discharges from the fish that they became exhausted and fell an easy prey. 
The Cat-FISIIES, or Sheatii-FISHES, are an extremely^ interesting group, one of the principal 
characteristics of which is the total absence of scales, the body being either entirely naked 
or armed with bony tubercles or overlapping plates. Another peculiarity of these fishes is 
the presence of feelers round the mouth; these, by their delicate sense of touch, enable the 
fish to procure its food in extremely muddy water, when the eyes would be useless. The 
latter, indeed, in many species are extremely reduced in size. Many cat-fishes are armed 
with powerful spines, attached to the body by^ a very complicated mechanism. Such spines 
are capable of inflicting dangerous wounds, either by the introduction of poison or the 
violent inflammation following on the laceration of the wounded part. Some species have 
elaborate accessory breathing-organs, enabling them to travel overland for short distances 
from one piece of water to another. Other members of the group possess electrical organs of 
considerable power; one species inhabiting the Nile attains a length of 4 feet. 
The nesting-habits of the group are exceedingly interesting, some building nests in which 
to deposit the eggs; others carry the eggs in the mouth till they hatch. In one species the 
care of the eggs is undertaken by the female, which carries them about embedded in the skin 
of the under surface of the body, which at this season becomes very soft and spongy. When 
the eggs are laid, she presses them into the spongy skin by lying on them. 
The cat-fishes are of world-wide distribution, but only one species, the Wels, occurs in 
European waters. It commonly attains a length of from 6 to 9 feet, and occasionally as 
much as 13 feet. The majority of cat-fishes inhabit fresh-water, but some are marine. 
CHAPTER XI 
THE CARP FAMILY 
BY JOHN BICKERDYKE, M.A. 
Phctc by A, S. Rudland ^ Sons 
CARP 
Thi members of the Carp Tribe are vegetable-feeders. They have teeth in the throat, but none in 
the iatvs 
HE Carp Fam- 
I ily, like the 
JL Perch group, is 
one of the largest among 
fishes. It includes the 
Rudd, Roach, Tench, 
Bream, Minnow, etc., 
and is divided into many 
groups, which again in- 
clude numerous species 
found chiefly in the 
temperate and tropical 
parts of the world. In- 
cluded among these are 
the Barbels, of which 
there aie about 200 
species, varying from 
little fishes of 2 inches 
