1S8 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



i(.i-lv coiitiiuied into strong occipital spines; and the large 

 l;iteral spines, the uppermost preopercular spine being 

 especially prominent on account of its size and strength, 

 which nre sometimes almost monstrously developed, and 

 heiiig often furnished with lateral spines in the upper 

 mai'gin. Another peculiarity of this group of the genus 

 Coitus lies in the armour of tlie lateral line, which we 

 have indeed seen before in ('entridermichthjis litoiKifus 

 and Triglops r'tngeVi'i. but which may here be of a 

 strength most iiearh' ;ipproaching to that of the lateral 

 |(l;itcs in a Doras (among exotic Siluroids) or of the 

 armour-plates in the Ai/onL Our Father-Lasher is a 

 dwarf in this respect too, but the Vega Expedition 

 brought liome from Behring Island" a Cottus claviger, 



size of the parts of the body and in their forms. We, 

 therefore, here intend to refer the reader to the descrij)- 

 tion of the Sea Scorpion, and to pay attention only to 

 the difterences whicli may^ be traced between the two 

 species. In the Father-Lasher the upper orl)ital margins 

 are more elevated, and the interorbital space, therefore, 

 deeper. These mtirgins are also more nearly parallel, 

 while in the Sea Scorpion they diverge posteriorly. Fi'om 

 the raised ridges (on the parietal Ijones), which run 

 from the orbital margin to the occiput and almost to 

 a line with the beginning of the first dorsal tin. and 

 which end, and often l^egin as well, in a spine directed 

 back, there projects, at their middle point, a third, more 

 or less distinct spine, of which there is not a trace in 



Fig. 54. Cottii.^ i-laciijer, Bebring I., 16th Aug. 1879. Vega Expedition. - ., of the natural size. 



a, species of this group, which lives on sea-urchins, and the preceding species. These ridges also approach each 



of which we here give a ligure in order to show at the other slightly at the middle near the occiput and then 



same time how the rV*///(.s-ty]»e mny pass into Cottnii- slightly diverge again. From the tirst and middle spines 



cuius, starting from this group as well as from the pre- there radiate several rows of fine, Iwny points or small 



cedinsr, both in form and coloration, while retaining the 

 black transverse l);tnds on the light-gray ground colour, 

 which otherwise chai'acterize juvenile forms. 



The Father-Lasher nevei- attains so large a size as 

 average specimens of the Four-horned Cottus or the Sea 

 Sccn'pion. Among the largest specimens we have found, 

 either in the North Sea or the Baltic, the males have been 

 at most L")t) mm. in length, the females 160 mm. The 

 usual length of the body is between 125 and l.)0 mm. 

 (lenerally speaking, there is a close i-esemblance between 

 this .species and the preceding one, both in the relative 



tubercles, \vhich render the sides of tlie ridges and the 

 space between them rough and scabrous to the touch. 

 There is also a similar roughness on the posterior pai't 

 of the raised, upper margin of the orbit, on the higher 

 parts of the gill-cover, on the larger spines (^f the gill- 

 cover, as far as they are covered l)y the skin, and on 

 the l)ridge which interiorly surrounds the orbit and is 

 ]josteriorly united to the preoperculum. The uppermost 

 pre(j})ercular spine is especially remarkable for its length, 

 as it generally not onl)' retiches to the point of tlie 

 opercular spine, but even extends beyond it. NMicn the 



" Cf. Smitt, ('atnloguo (jf tlie Swedisli Department of tlie Fisheries Exhibition in London 188:5, p. 175. 



