Sl'DTTKI) Ol'N'NKI,. 



223 



S'l'lvOM, it l)(';irs tlic iiiiiiic ot 'J'(ii/(/hr(isiiii' (Scjiwced- 

 Brosmius). It occurs nloiiii' the wlioh; coast of X(ir- 

 way and Bohus];iii, mid also in the ( "attcizat, tlic Sound 

 and the Baltic. < )ff (iotldand, accordinji' to IjINDStuom", 

 it is fairly common. In 18.")(> the l!<)\nl Museum re- 

 ceived from Baron A. ( 'ki)KHsti!uM a specimen 155 nun. 

 lony, which had been taken off Beatelund in the island- 

 belt of Stockholm. In 1863 \\'ii)io(;iii;N found the Spotted 

 (tunnel in Alands Haf'; and accorfling to Mei.a, it has 

 also been taken on llu; coast of Nyland in the Gulf 

 of Finland. Still, in tJK! Iwdtic, it does not belong to 

 the common lislies. It extends soutiiwards as far as 

 Knglaiul and Ireland, and the northern part of the 

 west coast of France. On the west of the Atlantic, it 

 lias betni found in North America' ; and whether it is a, 

 distinct species from Pholis fnsckifits of Greenland and 

 the Pacific species, Pholis onudits, to which it is at 

 least very nearly related, is a (juestion that deserves 

 more searching investigation. 



As the S]»otted Guiuiel always leads a solitary life 

 at the !)ottom, among stones and seaweed, and is an 

 adept at finding a hiding-place, it is not taken very 

 fre(|uentl\'. It generally lives in shidlow water and thus, 

 on coasts where there is any perceptible rise and fall 

 of the tide, it is often left behind at low water in the 

 ])ools or among the seaweed. It is on such occasions 

 that its capture is most easy. It is also taken fre- 

 (pientlv amongst other tishes in the fientc. It is tena- 

 cious of life to a very high degree, and can live fairly 

 long out of the water. Its movements are extremely 



active, when attempt is made to catch it, but at other 

 times slow and simious, at least in the daytime — at 

 night it is said to move more briskly. It is seldom 

 seen lying stretched at full length, but generally in 

 more or less undulating curves, or even as it were 

 folded round some object or in its retreat. This is 

 the explanation of the fact that the Spotted Gunnel is 

 often found hidden in empty mussel shells, in company 

 wilh which it is fairly often drawn up from the bottom, 

 especialK' dui'ing the oystei--fishery''. It has tiierefoi'e 

 been accused of making its way into live oysters and 

 devouring them", but of this offence it is certainly 

 quite innocent. Its food seems to consist chiefly of 

 small crustaceans and mollusks, fragments <jf which 

 have been found in its stomach. 



At the end of October the ovaries of the female 

 are full, and the railt-saes of the male distended, thus 

 showing that the spawning-season occurs in that mouth, 

 or soon after. The young specimen mentioned above 

 as described by Malm, however, was taken in July; 

 and similar catches are recorded bv Kuoveh, wdio hence 

 concludes that the spawning-season must be much later, 

 unless, indeed, the growth of the fry is extraordinarily 

 slow. It is not improbable that the spawning-seasQU 

 may last throughout the winter, and even extend into 

 the early part of spring. A female, taken off StrOmstad 

 in Novembei", still contained rather small eggs. 



As the Spotted Gunnel is of no service to the 

 fishermen, they have no special method of catching it. 



(Fries, Smitt.) 



" Gotl. Fisk., Gotl. Liiiis Husli. Sails. Arsber. ISSO, p. l;j (sep.). 

 '' According to Malmgrex, 1. c. 

 ■" JORD., GiLB., 1. c. 



■' Cf. Hevke, 1. c. 



' Cf. KnoYER, 1. c, p. 3.54. 



