SEA SCORPION. 75 



ACANTHOPTERYG1I. WITH HARD CHEEKS. 



SEA SCORPION, SHORT-SPINED COTTUS. 



Cottus scorpiuS) BLOCH, pt. ii. pi. 40. 



,, ,, KLEIN, Miss. iv. pi. 13, fig. 2. 



,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 160. 



,, ,, Sea Scorpion, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 344. 



THE marine species of the genus Cottus appear to belong 

 almost exclusively to the Northern Seas ; and although plen- 

 tiful on most parts of our southern shore, M. Risso has not 

 included them in his History of the Natural productions of the 

 Environs of Nice, which contains most of the fishes of the 

 Mediterranean. Very various have been the names bestowed 

 upon the species of the genus Cottus generally ; and under 

 the term Father-Lasher two species have been constantly 

 confounded in this country, and the habits and peculiarities 

 of both included in one history. The Sea Scorpion, or 

 short-spined Cottus, is common all round our coast, and, 

 besides being less powerfully armed than the Cottus bubalis, 

 or Father-Lasher, neither does it associate with that species. 

 The Sea Scorpion is frequently found in estuaries or har- 

 bours, and measures from four or five to eight inches in 

 length ; but it is said to acquire a much larger size in the 

 North. It is included in the recently published works of 



