FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



307 



situated opposite the ventrals, a second dorsal 

 opposite the anal, and a forked tail, separates the 

 barracuda from any other Gulf of Maine fish. 



Color. — The adult is olivaceous above, silvery 

 below. The young have dusky blotches along the 

 back and along the lateral line. 



Size. — This is the smallest of the barracudas, 

 few growing longer than one foot. 



General range. — -Atlantic and Gulf coasts of 

 America from Cape Cod to Panama. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — A specimen, 

 about 2 inches long, found alive in the surf at 

 Nauset Beach, Cape Cod, September 26, 1930, by 

 the late Dr. Edward P. Richardson, is the only 

 record for the Gulf of Maine. Young fry, a few 

 inches long, have been taken from time to time in 

 Vineyard Sound, however, and in Buzzards Bay on 

 the southern coast of Massachusetts between July 

 and December. 



THE STICKLEBACKS. FAMILY GASTEROSTEIDAE 



Sticklebacks are small fish, made easily recog- 

 nizable by the presence of two, three or more stout 

 free spines on the back in front of the dorsal fin 

 (spines that they can erect or depress at will) and 

 by the fact that each ventral fin is represented by 

 an even larger spine with only one or two rudimen- 

 tary rays. Some of them have bony plates in the 

 scaleless skin, but others do not. 



KEY TO GULF OF MAINE STICKLEBACKS 



1. Seven dorsal spines or more 



Nine-spined stickleback, p. 307 

 Not more than five large dorsal spines 2 



2. No bony plates on the upper part of the sides, but 



there is a bony ridge on either side of the abdomen 

 Four-spined stickleback, p. 311 

 The upper part of the sides are armed with bony 

 plates, and there is a plate in the midline of the 

 belly, but there are no ridges on the sides 



of the abdomen 3 



3 Many (28 or more) plates on each side 



Three-spined stickleback, p. 308 

 Only 5 or 6 plates on a side 



Two-spined stickleback, p. 310 



Nine-spined stickleback Pungitius pungitius 

 (Linnaeus) 1758 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 745. 



Description.- — The nine-spined stickleback is a 

 slender little fish five to 6 times as long (not 



counting the caudal fin) as it is deep, with a very 

 slim caudal peduncle. The latter usually has a 

 well-developed longitudinal keel on either side; 

 but this keel may be very low or even wanting. 

 There are no bony plates along the sides of the 

 body, but only along the bases of the anal and 

 dorsal fins and on the caudal keels. There are no 

 true scales. The most distinctive character is that 

 there usually are 9 spines on the midline of the 

 back (from 7 to 12 have been counted) in a con- 

 tinuous row from close in front of the pectorals to 

 the dorsal fin, set in a slightly zigzag line and 

 leaning alternately to one side and to the other. 

 The spines are weakly curved rearward; wider at 

 the base than at the tip; fairly uniform in size; 

 about one-half to one-third as long as the height of 

 the dorsal fin; each has a small triangular fin 

 membrane at its base; and there is a shallow groove 

 along the back, into which the spines can be de- 

 pressed. Each ventral fin is represented by a 

 stout curved spine thicker and longer than the 

 dorsal spines. The dorsal and anal fins (the former 

 stands above the latter) are alike in form, tapering 

 from front to rear, the anal preceded by a single 

 stout recurved spine. The tail fin is weakly 

 rounded. 



Size. — Large adults are seldom more than 3 

 inches long, more commonly 2 to 2%. 



Figure 166. — Nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius). From Bigelow and Welsh. 



