14 FOUR-SPINED STICKLEBACK. SHORT-SPINED STICKLEBACK. 



Shropshire; but I have not had much opportunity of studying the habits of this little fish. 

 It is nidificatory like the Three-spined, and probably the rest of the family. It is found in 

 many of the creeks near the coast, and is said to ascend the rivers in the spring to spawn; 

 but like the foregoing species, it is often a permanent resident in our fresh-water ditches and 

 ponds. Sticklebacks are frequently caught with whitebait or young herrings in the lower 

 portion of the Thames, and I have occasionally found some of these little fish on my plate 

 cooked with whitebait. The Ten-spined is distinguished from the rest by having its sides 

 quite naked, or free from lateral plates. It is usually about one inch to nearly two inches in 

 length; the general colour is olive green on the back; belly and sides silvery white, with 

 little black specks; the fins are pale yellowish white. It is sometimes called the Tinker, but 

 wherefore I know not. The fin ray formula is 



Dorsal lo spinous + 9. 

 Pectoral 11. 



Anal I spinous + g — 10. 

 Ventral i spinous + i. 



The Four-spined Stickleback {G. spinulosus) appears to be very rare. It was first 



discovered by Dr. J. Stark in a pond near Edinburgh in 1830. It is the smallest of all the 



species, being not more than one inch and a quarter in length. Dr. Stark kept some of these 



diminutive fish in tumblers, and fed them with small leeches and aquatic larvae. He found 



them quite as voracious and even more pugnacious than the three-spined species. The 



specimens in the British Museum are from the Isle of Arran and Berwick. The fin rays are 



as follows : — 



Dorsal 4 spinous -1- 8. 

 Pectoral g. 



Ventral i spinous -|- i. 

 Anal I spinous -|- 8. 



According to Dr. Stark the Four-spined Stickleback has all the varied colours of the other 

 species of the genus, except the bright red found in the males during the breeding season. 



The Short-spined Stickleback (G. brachyccntrus) is the largest of the family, attaining 

 the length of three inches. It was first procured for Mr. Thompson from pools along the 

 margin of Lough Neagh, Dublin, etc. He gives one English habitat, namely, Stowpool, near 

 Lichfield, whence in July, 1836, he obtained the largest example which had come under his 

 observation {Nat. Hist, of Ireland, iv. p. 86). The number of lateral plates above the pectoral 

 fin in this species agrees nearly with G. acitlcatiis van gymmirus, but the spines, as the specific 

 name indicates, are very short. The fin rays are 



Dorsal 3 spinous -|- 13. 

 Anal I spinous -|- g. 

 Pectoral 10. 

 Ventral i spinous -)- i. 



All the figures of the species and varieties on the Plate represent the fishes of the natural 

 adult size, with the exception of fig. 5, which is larger than the real fish. On the right hand 

 side may be seen a male in his bright red garb of the month of May, and a female in the 

 act of depositing her eggs in a half-formed nest; after the eggs are impregnated the female 

 retires, and the completion of the nest, as described above, as well as the guardianship of it 

 and its contents, devolves entirely upon the male. 



