210 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



tips of which do not project ;il)ove the fin-membrane; 

 the first ray is slightly shorter than the second, which 

 is the longest. Tlic second dorsal fin, which l^egins 

 fairly close to, or even just at tlie end of the first, 

 above the beginning of the anal fin, is of almost uni- 

 form height, and contains six or seven (sometimes eight) 

 simple rays, the first of wliich is shorter tlian the next 

 three, whicli are of equal length iind the longest of all 

 the rays, but still are overtopped by the fin-membrane. 

 The pectoral fins, which are inserted close to the gill- 

 openings, are large, rounded at the ])oint and with 

 from 15 to 17 (generally 1(5) simple rays. The ventral 

 fins are situated a little behind the insertion of the 

 pectoral, and contain three raj^s, the first of \vhich is 

 a spinous ray closely united to the second, which, like 

 the third, is simple and has a soft tip, extending beyond 

 the tin-membrane. The innermost (third) ray is the 

 longest, and maj' occupy as much as ^/g of the distance 

 from the insertion of the ventral fins to the beginning 

 of the anal fin. The latter begins below the beginning 

 of the second dorsal fin and ends in front of the per- 

 ]jendicular drawn from the end of that fin. It contains 

 from 5 to 7 simple rays. The caudal tin is long, 

 rounded at the point and contains only simple rays, the 

 number of which, including the supporting rays, varies 

 l)etween 12 and 15- 



The upper part of the body is grayish brown. 

 Back and sides marked, as in the Cott'i, with four, large, 

 nearly black spots or rather trans^■erse bands, the fii'st 

 of which is situated at the hind part of the first dorsal 

 fill, the second at the hind part of the second dorsal 

 fin, the third at the middle of the peduncle of the tail, 

 and the fourth at the base of the caudal fin. Lower 

 side of the head and the belly white or whitish j'ellow, 

 generally unbroken to the end of the anal fin, behind 

 which point some more or less distinct, grayish brown 

 spots are always to be found. Dorsal and ytectoral fins, 

 like the caudal, light gray, with irregular, dark spots 

 and transverse bands. Barbels and anal fin white, as 

 well as the ventral fins, which ai'e sometimes marked, 

 iiowijver, with dark spots. Iris bronze, ^vith red streaks 

 radiating from the pu[jil, which is green. 



Livei' small and forming two lobes, one of them 

 very small and the other compai'atively large and 

 rounded at the point. (Esophagus very short; stomach 

 also shoi't, but broad. Five short and thick jjyloric 



" Vertebrata Feniiicn, tab. IX. 

 '' Cf. Maui and Day, 11. cc. 



appendages. The intestinal canal forms tM'o bends. 

 The abdominal cavity occupies about a quarter of the 

 length of the body, and the vent lies almost at its 

 middle. Ovaries large, extending along nearly the 

 whole length of the abdominal cavity. Kidneys equal 

 in length to the abdominal cavity, and set, as usual, 

 under the sides of the spinal column. No trace of an 

 aii--l)ladder. 



NiLSsoN states, as an external sexual difference, 

 that in this sjjecies, as in most of the Cottt, the male 

 is distinguished from the female by a soft papilla be- 

 hind the vent, and that the interorbital space is appa- 

 rently broader in the male, measuring about half as 

 much again as the diameter of the eye and lieing almost 

 flat. The males, however, are so rare that neither 

 Kroyer or Ekstrom has met with an example, full- 

 grown at least, nor during late years has the Royal 

 Museum received a single male specimen. 



The geographical range of the Bearded Cottus, 

 or as it is commonly called, the Armed Bullhead in 

 the north-east of the basin of the Atlantic is fairly 

 wide, extending from the White Sea and Iceland at 

 least as far as the Eno;lish Channel; but it seems no- 

 where to be one of the common species. As early as 

 1830 the Roj'al Museum received from Mr. Bull a 

 specimen from Hammerfest. In the Baltic the Ai-med 

 Bullhead is rare even off Kiel, according to Mobius 

 and Heincke, l)ut occurs, according to Nilsson, on the 

 south coast of Scania, and, according to Mela", has 

 .strayed as far as the Gulf (jf Finland. 



The Armed Bullhead pi-efers to make its home on 

 a sandy and weedy bottom. During the summer months, 

 from April to November, the females are met with in 

 water of a moderate depth, but at the ap|)roach of 

 winter they withdra^v into dee]) water. The males, as 

 we have already mentioned, are extremely rare, |)ro- 

 bablv l)ecause it is only during the spawning-season 

 that they live in so shallo'w \vater as to be in any 

 danger from the nets u.sed in shore-fishing. 



In its habits, as in its appearance, the Armed 

 Bullhead closely resembles the Cotf'i. It hardly ever 

 leaves the bottom, where it seeks its food, wliich con- 

 sists chiefly of small crustaceans. The spawning-season 

 is in spring, in March'' and April or the lieginniiig of 

 May. We have no information as to the way in which 

 the roe is deposited or the development of the fry. 



