British reptiles, amphibians, and fresh-water fishes . quire elucidation, and the different changes under-gone by the young are still imperfectly known. Onlyduring the last 25 years has our knowledge of the wonder-ful transition stages of the Eel become manifest, and muchof its story is still wrapt in mystery. As showing that mistaken ideas still prevail regardingwild creatures, the following extract from a book by aDanish author (Carl Ewald) recently published clearlyshows. The translation reads as follows :— When the Eel puts his head above the mud, Mrs. 78 EEL AND COMMON CARP Reed-Warbler e
British reptiles, amphibians, and fresh-water fishes . quire elucidation, and the different changes under-gone by the young are still imperfectly known. Onlyduring the last 25 years has our knowledge of the wonder-ful transition stages of the Eel become manifest, and muchof its story is still wrapt in mystery. As showing that mistaken ideas still prevail regardingwild creatures, the following extract from a book by aDanish author (Carl Ewald) recently published clearlyshows. The translation reads as follows :— When the Eel puts his head above the mud, Mrs. 78 EEL AND COMMON CARP Reed-Warbler exclaims, * I cant stand that person ;hes so like the Adder, who ate my little sister last yearwhen she fell to the ground as she was learning to has the same offensive manners, and is just asslippexy. True the Eel is slippery, as has already been stated,but to compare it with the Adder in this respect is aninjustice to the latter, though it is more than probablethe Snake in question is capable of devouring ** little Common Carp. — Cyprinus carpio (Fig. 41). Whilstthere are three species of Carp on the British list, twospecies—the Common Carp and the well-known Goldfish{Carassius auratus)—have been introduced from China,and the third—the Crucian Carp {Carassius vulgaris)—is of European origin, but probably is not entitled toinclusion in our own native fauna. As my own familyused to have the fishing rights in the old pool belonging toSopwell Nunnery, I have a personal interest for men-tioning that the first reference to the Carp as a British 79 BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES species is contained in Dame Juliana Berners Bokeof St. Albans, which was first published in 1496,and dealt with the subjects of Hawking, Hunting, andFishing. She was an Abbess of the Nunnery in ques-tion. As will be noticed, the present species belongs toa different genus to the other two, as it has two barbelson each side of the mouth, and may be at once identifiedb
Size: 2328px × 1073px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., book, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, common=commoncarp, taxonomy
