FISHES. 399 
THE BREAM (Cyprinus brama,) 
Is flattish fish, not unlike the carp in several points, but 
much broader in proportion to its length and thickness. 
Its head is truncated, the upper jaw a little projecting; 
the forehead a bluish black ; cheeks yellowish ; body 
olive, paler below ; fins obscure, with an oblong conical 
process at the base of the ventral fins ; twenty-nine rays 
in the anal fin ; length about two feet. It abides in the 
deepest parts of rivers, lakes, and ponds. The scales are 
large and of a bright colour ; the tail has the form of a 
crescent. These fish spawn in May, but when they are near 
that time, they hide themselves so carefully in the ooze at 
the bottom of the water, that they are very seldom found 
with either soft or hard roe in them, so that in some coun- 
tries the name is often used to denote sterility. The flesh 
is not comparable to that of the carp. 
The White Bream never exceeds a pound in weight, 
and is consequently much smaller than the common or 
Carp Bream, which frequently weighs seven or eight 
pounds. 
