C Y P R 
r. The eye is larger, the iris bluifh. 2. The head and 
fins are of a beautiful purplifh red, the fins edged with a 
reddifh ftripe. 3. The fcales are fmaller and thicker. 
4. Several red fpots-a-ppear in an irregular form on the 
body. 5. It is covered with a clammy fubftance.” If 
we credit the fifhermen, this extraordinary filh never 
weighs more than three or four pounds. May it not be 
a mule-fifb, between a bream and a rud ? The red fins, 
the body fhort and broad, and its light weight, feem to 
favour this idea. There is another kind, which partakes 
of the bream and the bleak, and refembles both : the 
bleak generally fpawns later than the bream, but it 
fometimes happens in cold weather that they fpavvn at 
the fame time; and, when both are taken in the fame 
net, it will happen that the ova of the one are fecun¬ 
dated by the males of the other, which produces a mule 
fpecies. In this fifit the head is as fmall, and the body 
as broad, as in the bleak; but the fins referable the 
bream : fifhermen fay that they become twice as heavy 
as the bleak, but never fo large as the bream, nor mul¬ 
tiply- 
The inteftinal canal of the bream has two finuofities, 
the vertebrae are thirty-two; the ribs, fifteen on each 
fide. Each jaw is furnifhed-with five broad teeth, fharp 
at top, and a little bent. The other vifcera are as in 
mod fifltes of this genus-. This fifli, when young, has 
been often miftaken for the bleak ; but the bream is 
longer in proportion to its breadth, its fins are almoft 
black, and its mouth larger. 
50. Cyprinus cultratus, the razor fifh. This carp is 
diftinguifhed from the fpecies heretofore deferibed, by 
the anal and dorfal fins being: oppolite to each other;, 
thirty rays in the anal fin, lateral line floping, belly fharp. 
There are fifteen rays in the petloral fin, nine in the 
ventral and dorfal, nineteen in the tail. The head is 
eompreffed at the fides,. and fmall, with an elevation 
above the aperture of the mouth. The under jaw is 
arched, and advances beyond the upper ; the mouth 
opens like that of the herring, and contains no teeth. 
The noftrils are large, and placed near the eyes, which 
are very large, with a black pupil-and filver iris. Be¬ 
tween the eyes and the aperture of the mouth is a fmall 
moveable bone, armed with prickles.. The cheeks are a 
filming pearl-colour. The nape is broad, and of a dark 
blue. The back is remarkably formed, making a ftrait 
line; it is round, and of a brownifh-grey colour; the 
fides are eompreffed, and filvery ; the belly thin, and 
fharp. The lateral line has a remarkable direction : it 
begins below the coverings of the gills ; after a courfe 
of about one inch, it turns down towards the belly, 
forming an obtufe angle, and ends, after many bendings, 
in the middle of the tail fin. The fcales, except thofe 
©fi the neck, are broad, thin, five-ftriped, and eafily rub 
off. The fins of the breafi, belly, and anus, are reddifh 
below, grey above ; thofe of the breafi are very long. 
Teaching to the ventral; the tail is forked. 
This filh is found in Pruflia, in Pomerania, and in all 
the rivers near the Baltic; alfo in Sweden, in tire Da¬ 
nube, the Jaik, and, according to Richter, in the Elbe ; 
Jikewife in the Volga and its communications, the Wol- 
chow, the lime, and many other large lakes in Ruflia. 
Linnaeus places it among the fifli peculiar to the Baltic, 
and regards it as a fpecies rare in Europe. They grow 
commonly a foot and a half long, four inches broad, and 
weigh a pound and a quarter ; though fome grow larger 
and heavier. They are fond of clear water, and live on 
worms, weeds, and (lime, remaining commonly near the 
banks, where in May they lay their fpawn on the weeds. 
They have many enemies, both among voracious fifhes 
and water-fowl, and its bright colours often point it 
out as a prey ; fo that they do not increafe very fall. 
The little flefh they furniih is white, foft, lean, and 
croffed with a multitude of little crowded bones; fo 
jhat they are not fought after as food. 
This differs from ether river-filh not only in exterior 
4 
I N U S. 543 
form, but alfo in its interior ftru&ure. The brain lies 
backward, near the eyes, and covered by the flefh ©f 
the back; the little bones of the brain obferved in other 
fifhes, are not found in this. The teeth are in the cefo- 
phagus, as in the preceding fpecies. The two ovaries, 
which lie all along the back, are large, each divided by 
a line into two equal parts : in a filh weighing a pound 
and a quarter, the ovaries weighed two ounces and a 
half; the eggs are grey, and in March are about the fize 
of millet-feed, and in number about 105,740. There 
are twenty ribs on each fide, and the vertebrae are forty- 
feven in number. The back being ftrait and thick,, and 
the belly thin and fharp, has occafioned the fimilarity of 
its name in different languages: in Sweden it is called 
Jkerknf razor; in Auftria, fichel, fickle; in Hungaria, 
fcellar, fabre; and its leannefs has gained it the name of 
ziege in Pruflia, and zicke, goat, in Pomerania. 
51. Cyprinus Bjorkna, the Swedifh carp ; with thirty- 
five rays in the anal fin; eleven in the dorfal, fifteen in 
the pectorals, nine in the ventrals, and nineteen in the 
tail. Inhabits the lakes of Sweden; five inches long. 
52. Cyprinus-Farenus, the Farenus carp ; with thirty- 
feven rays in the anal fin, iris yellow. The dorfal fin 
has eleven rays, pectorals eighteen, ventrals ten, tail 
nineteen. 
53. Cyprinus ballerus, the bley. This fpecies is difi. 
tinguiflved by having forty rays in the anal fin. Thfere 
are feventeen in the peiftoral fins, nine in the ventral, 
nineteen in the tail, and ten in the dorfal. The head is 
fmall, and rounded at the end. The jaws are even; 
but the under one is bent, and a little protruded when 
the mouth is open. The front is brown ; the eye large, 
with a black pupil ; iris yellow, with two black fpots. 
The cheeks and coverings of the gills appear fuccef- 
fively blue, yellow, and red. The body is very thin, 
particularly from the anus to the tail. The anus is 
nearly in the middle of the body. The fides are of a 
filvery white ; and the belly, which is about the thick- 
nef's of one’s little finger, is reddifh. The lateral line is 
ftraight, and marked with black dots. The back is 
blackifh, and goes off (helving: the body covered with 
fmall fcales. The fins are edged with blue; the dorfal 
fin is- farther from the mouth than thofe of the belly ; 
the anal fin is very large ; and that of the tail is forked, 
the under part longer than the. upper. This fifh is found 
in the waters of Pruflia, and Pomerania, where they are 
caught in the fpring. According to profeffor Bok, the 
bley is alfo found in Pruffian Lithuania. Towards an. 
turan they quit the Curifch-haff, to gain the rivers which 
communicate with it. I11 Ruflia, it is found in raofl of 
the lakes which are near rivers.. In the Untermark it i.s 
in plenty, and has the name of fenec. On the 16 th of 
April 1788, more than two thoufand were drawn up in 
one day at Olderburg. It increafes but flowly, and is 
little efteemed, becaufe it has little flefh and many bones ; 
yet it affords wholefome aourifliment, as not being over 
fat. It weighs from a pound and a half to three pounds. 
They fpawn about the end of April: “at that feafon,” 
fays Bloch, “ I examined a female : the weighed fifteen 
ounces ; the ovary weighed five ounces and three-quar* 
tors, and contained 67,500 eggs of the fize of poppy- 
feed.’ 3 Each jaw has five teeth, flattened at the. fides, 
and fharp-pointed. 
54. Cyprinus latus, the broad carp. This is known 
by its broad flat body, and by the twenty-five rays in the., 
anal fin. The peftoral fins have fifteen rays, the ventral 
fix, the tail twenty-two, the dorfal twelve. The head 
is fmall, ending in a point; when the month is fluit, the 
upper jaw advances a little beyond the lower ; the aper¬ 
ture of the mouth is fo fmall, that, in a filh of eight 
inches long, the little finger cannot be introduced with-, 
out violence. The eye is of a middling fize ; pupil black; 
iris yellow fpotted with black. The body is covered 
with thin fcales. The hind part of the head is bluilh, 
as well as the back, which is fharp above and round be« 
low i 
