ACANTHOPTERYGIANS : SCIENID^E. 33! 



The Sea-Scorpion, ^S". porcus, Linn., of the Atlantic and 

 Mediterranean, is from eight to ten inches long, color 

 brown, rosaceous beneath. Wounds from its spines are 

 considered dangerous. 



The Spotted Sea-Scorpion, or Sea-Toad, 6". bufo, Rich., 

 of the Atlantic, is about seven inches long, brown, mar- 

 bled with rosaceous and violet. 



The Genus Scbastcs differs from the preceding one in 

 the more compressed form, the absence of cutaneous ap- 

 pendages, and in the smoother head. 



The Norway Haddock, 5. norvegicus, Cuv., of the North 

 Atlantic, is from twelve to twenty-four inches long, red 

 above and silvery below. 



The Genus Gasterostcus Sticklebacks has mailed 

 cheeks, one dorsal fin, with free spines before it, and the 

 bones of the pelvis united, forming a Fi 



shield pointed behind ; and their ventrals 

 are reduced to a single spine. The spe- 

 cies are quite numerous, very small, from Many ' sp S Stickle " 

 one to two inches and a half long. They G ' Dekayi > Ag " 

 inhabit the ocean and fresh-water streams, and are very 

 active, pugnacious, and voracious. A single individual 

 has been known to devour seventy-five young fish in five 

 hours. They construct nests, which are protected by the 

 female fish. 



SCIENID,E, OR SCIENOID FAMILY. This Family com- 

 prises fishes which are closely related to the Percidae ; the 

 bones of the cranium and face are generally cavernous, 

 muzzle more or less gibbous, and vertical fins somewhat 

 scaly. The species are very numerous, inhabiting mainly 

 the tropical seas. Cuvier enumerates over thirty genera, 

 and the species known are more than two hundred and 

 fifty. 



The Genus OtolitJius is characterized by feeble or ob- 

 solete anal spines, two dorsals, and the air-bladder bifid in 



