Bitterling Carp.
The indoor aquarium
shows this fish to better advantage than does
the pond. They are small fishes, four inches
long when fully grown, and daintily coloured.
The body is olive, the head region is suffused
with violet and down the centre of the body
runs a flashing blue streak. The breeding
habits are most interesting and, of course,
cannot be observed in the pond. At breeding
time the female develops, from the vent, a
long tube which is placed near the inhalent
siphon of the common Swan Mussel. Whilst
the mussel is drawing water in, so the eggs are
laid in the ingoing stream. The male then
steps forward and ejects milt into the water,
and this, with the eggs, finds its way into the
interior of this strange foster-mother. Here
they are fertilized and remain sticking to the
mussel's inside until they are hatched ; then
the baby fishes swim out of the other siphon
as it exhales the water. Bitterling may be
purchased for about eightpence each. The
name, incidentally, is derived from the bitter
taste of the flesh when cooked.
Dace.
Although this delightful silvery fish
is more at home in swift moving streams it
can adapt itself to pond life. The colour is
bright silver with a rosy bloom in places,
the fins are olive with, at times, a reddish
tinge ; the tail is comparatively large, compared with the slender lines of the body, and
is of a greenish tint. They do not attain a
great size, rarely more than a pound in weight.
Flies are their favourite diet ; these they pursue
with great rapidity. They may be obtained
for sixpence each.
Common Rudd.
Not an ideal pond fish is
the rudd, not that it is not hardy-it is exceptionally so, but because its colouring makes
it inconspicuous. The eye is the most striking
feature, it is bright red, otherwise it greatly
resembles the common carp. There is a silvery
tinge to the rudd and a redness about the fins
that is absent in the carp.
Golden Rudd.
By some authorities this beautiful fish is considered to be a separate species,
and by others as just a variety of the common
rudd. The shape is that of the rudd and the
colour that of the goldfish, though somewhat
more yellow. The eye in retaining the typical
rudd redness gives the fish an unusual look.
As they do not often breed true to type in
this country, they are rather expensive, two
shillings to half a crown each being the usual
price.
Roach.
The eye of this fish is less vividly
red than that of the Common Rudd, otherwise
the colouring and shape are almost identical.
The disposition of the fins, however, is slightly
different
|
