Vig Károly: Zoological Research in Western Hungary. A history (Szombathely, 2003)

158 Phylum Vertebrata been found in the Rába and Pinka, and the Grajka and Szakonyfalu brooks. There were hearsay reports of sightings in several other streams as well (VIDA 1997). Members of the NIMFEA Nature Protection Society in Szarvas headed by SALLAI and GYÖRE, undertook ichthyofaunistic surveys in the Rába and Mura catchment areas in 1997 and 1998, with study of the distribution and habits of Ukrainian brook lamprey as their prime objective. In 1996, they found six larvae in the Kerka and Kerca rivers (SALLAI and GYÖRE 1997). During the whole two-year survey of four watercourses (the Kerka and Kerca, and the Grajka and Szakonyfalu brooks), 204 specimens were found at six locations, of which four were mature, all from the Grajka. No specimens were found when the same locations were examined again in October 1997, which suggests there was a migration of the species taking place (SALLAI and GYÖRE 1999). CLASS ACTINOPTERYCII (RAY-FINNED FISHES) The literature on Hungarian ichthyology has a long history: JÁNOS APÁCZAI CSERE cited eight fish species in Hungarian waters in 1653.

2 The Danube monograph by FERDINANDO LUIGI MARSIGLI describes 45 fish species occurring on the Hungarian and Austrian stretches of the river (Figure 14.1)? Pictures of the Past of Körmend by BÉLA IVÁNYI (1943) derives an account of 17th-century fishing conditions from contemporary sources: 'The fish caught in Körmend and district were put up for sale by the karikafa or karika. A karika weighed 6-8 mázsa.

4 The costliest fish were hausen, northern pike and carp, while 'everyday' fish were considerably cheaper. For instance, a price of 150 forints was asked for a karika of hausen in 1640. Surplus fish were sold... beyond Körmend, and although large amounts of fish and even the odd turtle and weatherfish were sent from Körmend to the Batthyány estates, the biggest consumer was Graz... Gerdákovics, for instance, sent fish, crayfish, pozsár,

5 weis and white fish,

6 Falusy likewise weis and large fresh hausen, and László Pethő a barrow-load of fresh fish to Körmend and from there to Németújvár.

7 Gerdákovics in 1640 sent carp, northern pike and even three turtles to 2 APÁCZAI CSERE, J. 1653. Magyar Encyclopaedia. Az az, Minden igaz és hasznos Böltseségnek szép rendbe foglalása és Magyar nyelven világra botsátása (Hungarian Encyclopaedia. Or: A Systematic Summary and Publication in the Hungarian Language of all that is True and Useful for Wisdom). Ultrajecti [Utrecht]: J. Waesberge. The book appeared in 1655, despite the date on the title page. 3 MARSIGLI, LF.di 1726. Danubius Pannonico-Mysicus, observationibus geographicis, astronomicis, hydrographicis, históriás, physicis perlustratus et in sex tomos digestus, cum tabulis aeri incisis. Hagae [The Hague]. 4 A karika is perhaps a barrel. A mázsa here equals 100 kg. 5 The archaic Hungarian word pozsár means the common carp (Cyprinus carpio). 6 'White fish' can mean any of several species of a silvery-white colour, so that a firm identification cannot be made. See RÁcz, J. 1996. A magyar nyelv halnevei (Fish Names in Hungarian). Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság (Hungarian Linguistics Society) publications 205, 212 pp. Budapest. 7 Giissing (Austria).