Minnow

Minnow (Leuciscus phoscinus), a small fish of the same genus as the roach, dace, chub, &c. It is widely distributed in Europe, from Norway to Italy. It is usually 3 or 4 inches long, but it occasionally in favourable localities may attain to as much as 7 inches. The minnow varies its colour; it is more brilliant when taking food, and brighter during the day than at night. The colours are most brilliant at spawning time, particularly in the males. The back is olive-brown in colour, becoming lighter at the sides with a metallic lustre. The fins are silvery gray, often rose tinted at the base. The colours become paler after spawning. The minnow is an active little fish found in large swarms, generally in shallows in summer or near the surface; in winter it conceals itself under stones and muddy banks. It is a voracious feeder, living on aquatic plants, worms, insects, small snails and fresh-water molluscs, and even its own kind; and in turn it is preyed upon by nearly every fish in the stream. Minnows have the peculiar habit of arranging themselves like the spokes of a wheel or the petals of a flower, with their heads towards the centre and their tails at nearly equal distances from one another when anything that can serve as food is thrown into the water. They may be caught by small hand-net or by hook and line, baited with worm or paste. They are very prolific; they breed in June, and the eggs hatch in a few days. As food they are much esteemed, cooked in various ways or dressed as 'white bait.' They are used as bait for eels, or as spinning bait for trout, perch, pike, or chub. Some fish-breeders advocate stocking rivers with minnows to feed the young salmon, but the wisdom of this proceeding has been questioned on various grounds.