| Order: |
Perciformes |
| Family: |
Percidae |
| Genus and species: |
Gymnocephalus cernuus |
William Yarrell (1836) in "A History of British Fishes":
THE RUFFE, OR POPE.
| Acerina |
vulgaris, |
CUV. et VALENC, Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iii. p. 4, pl. 41. |
| Perca |
cernua, |
LINNÆUS. BLOCH, pt. ii. pl. 53. |
| " |
" |
Ruffe, |
PENN. Brit. Zool. 1812, vol. iii. P. 350. |
| " |
" |
" |
DON. Brit. Fish. pl. 39. |
| Cernua |
fluviatilis, |
" |
FLEM, Brit. An. p. 212, sp. 141. |
Generic Characters. - Dorsal fin single, elongated, the rays of the first portion spinous, the others flexible ; branchiostegous rays 7 ; teeth very small, uniform, numerous ; head without scales : suborbital bone and preoperculum indented ; operculum ending in a single point.
The Ruffe, a freshwater fish, closely allied to the Perch, but with a single dorsal fin, appears to have been unknown to the ancients, and Cuvier assigns the credit of its first discovery to an Englishman whose name was Caius.* He found it in the river Yare near Norwich, and called it Aspredo, a translation of our name of Ruffe (rough), which is well applied to it on account of the harsh feel of its denticulated scales. Caius sent the first figure of this fish to Gesner, who published it.
The Ruffe is common to almost all the canals and rivers of England, particularly the Thames, the Isis and the Cam ; and, though said to be unknown in Spain, Italy, and Greece, is found over the colder portion of the European Continent, preferring slow, shaded streams, and a gravelly bottom. In its habits also the Ruffe resembles the Perch, and feeds, like that fish, on the fry of others and on aquatic insects. A small red worm used as a bait generally proves too tempting to be long resisted ; it seldom, however, when caught, exceeds six or seven inches in length, but its flesh is considered excellent. The spawning season is in April; and the ova, which are of a yellowish white colour, are deposited among the roots and stems of flags and rushes at the sides of the stream.
The generic characters, and the engraved outline at the bottom of the page, show the peculiarities of the various parts of the head around the eyes are several oval depressions. Fin-rays : -
D. 14 + 12 P. 13 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 2 + 5 : C. 17.
The prevailing colour of the upper part of the body and head is a light olive brown, passing into a yellowish brown on the sides, and becoming almost silvery white on the belly. The lateral line prominent and strongly marked. A tinge of greenish pearl pervades the gill-cover ; the irides are brown, the pupil blue. Small brown spots are disseminated over the back, dorsal fin, and tail, assuming on the latter from -arrangement the appearance of bars ; pectoral, ventral, and anal fins, pale brown.
* The learned Dr. Caius, well known for his various zoological writings.
Frank Buckland (1880) in "Natural History of British Fishes":
POPE, OR RUFF.
(Acerina vulgaris. Acerina cernua)
Local names: Jack Ruff, Pope, Ruff, Tommy Bar. German: Der Kaulbarsch Steinschwert. Danish: Horke. Swedish: Girs. French: Gremille.
THIS fish is well known to Thames anglers, by whom it is often caught while gudgeon-fishing. A cruel habit, which probably originated in some idea connected with Roman Catholic persecution, is practised up and down the Thames, and, I believe, almost all over England. A wine cork is pressed tightly on to the spine of the dorsal fin, and the fish turned loose ; this is what is called “plugging a pope.” There are, I believe, a great number of these fish in the Yare and Wensum. Mr. Searle tells me that they are plentiful in canal cuts in Berkshire, where there is a gravelly bottom, but not much stream.
Mr. Edon, the attendant at my fish museum, informs me that the Sheffield people, especially the artisans, are very great anglers, and that angling matches are often instituted, for which prizes are offered. These prizes are generally exhibited the night before the match, and consist of the funniest things possible, such as a sack of soot, a child’s pair of shoes, a hay-fork. The next morning a special train is run to “fish off the match” in the Keadley canal, Lincolnshire, the station being Crewel Bridge, where competitors for the match, from Leeds, York, &c., meet and join the excursion. Pegs are placed along the side of the canal 10 yards apart, each peg being numbered, and the angler who draws the number on a ticket drawn from a big beer-jug must fish at the post corresponding to the number. Sometimes there are as many as five or six hundred competitors. I understand it is a common sight to see a forest of rods at the drawing of tickets, and also when the fishing commences, the row of rods extending sometimes three miles or more. On these occasions a great many popes are caught, and it is the invariable custom of anglers to carry bits of cork in their pocket, which they fix on to the back spines of the fish, which they let loose again into the water both during and after the match. It is a very funny sight to see the surface of the canal for so many miles covered by these unfortunate popes.
Alwyne Wheeler (1969) in "The Fishes of the British Isles and North West Europe":
Ruffe [Pope]
Gymnocephalus cernua (Linnaeus, 1758) [Acerina cernua]
NAMES Fr. Grémille; Du. Pos; Ge. Kaulbarsch; Da. Hork; Sw. Gers.
IDENTIFICATION A small perch-like fish with a single dorsal fin, the spiny dorsal fin being continuous with the soft rayed dorsal. The dorsal has twelve to sixteen spines, eleven to fifteen rays. Thirty-five to forty large scales in the lateral line which has conspicuous pores; no scales on the head. The snout is rounded, the mouth just inferior and relatively small. A series of large sensory canals just beneath the skin on the head are particularly noticeable below the eye and on the pre-operculum. The anal fin has two spines (exceptionally three) of equal length (or almost) to the five or six soft rays.
The back and sides are greeny brown, with numerous irregular dark spots, the sides and belly light brown to yellow. The pectoral fins are rosy; the dorsal and tail fins have rows of dark spots on the membranes. They grow to 10 in (25 cm), mostly 5-7 in (13-18 cm).
BIOLOGY The ruffe is found in both still and slow-flowing waters, but not in swiftly running rivers. It is also found in slightly saline water in the Baltic region. It usually forms small shoals, is very rarely found in large shoals, and is often regarded as rare. It may in fact be quite common within a certain restricted locality but rare outside it. Its food consists in the main of chironomid larvae and pupae, alderfly larvae (Sialis) and crustaceans, chiefly copepods, ostracods and the water slater (Asellus). Some plant food and a wide range of other insects are also eaten. The young ruffe eats planktonic crustaceans for the first summer of its life; thereafter its diet consists mainly of bottom-living animals. Its diet at all ages is broadly similar to that of the perch with which it appears to be a direct competitor.
The life of the ruffe is short; it grows rapidly for two years, and then slows down. Ruffe live for a maximum of six years (in eastern Europe), more usually for four years. The rate of growth at each year is: first year (O group) 1¼-2½ in (30-60 mm); second year 2¾-3½ in (72-91 mm), average 3¼ in (80 mm); third year 3¼-4 in (82-103 mm), average 3½ in (90 mm); fourth year, 3½-4¼ in (87-108 mm), average 4 in (102 mm); fifth year, 4-4½ in (100-17 mm), average 4¼ in (108 mm). Females are slightly larger than males and tend to live longer; both sexes mature in less than two years.
Spawning takes place from March to May; the eggs are about 1 mm in diameter, and yellowish white in colour. The eggs are shed in strands and are sticky, adhering to vegetation. They hatch in eight to ten days at a temperature of 10-15°C (50-60°F). The fry are 3 mm at hatching.
The ruffe is too small to possess any interest to anglers; indeed its bold biting at bait intended for better fish is more often a nuisance than anything. It is, however, too local in its distribution to present a general threat. Except as a competitor for food with other larger fish it has little indirect effect on the angling potential of rivers and lakes. It is not commercially fished, except that at one time in North Germany it was exploited for food. Ruffe are said to be good eating.
DISTRIBUTION
Eastwards through the U.S.S.R. (Another species, the Schraetzer (Ge.) Gymnocephalus schraetzer (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Danube basin, is distinguished by its elongate form, long snout, and by having seventeen to nineteen spines, twelve to fourteen rays in the dorsal fin.)