(;.')(; SCAXDIXAVIAX FISHES 



At Inst tlie time for I lie ripening of tiie eggs ap 



jjroaches, and new troutjles come. He has now to pro- 

 tect and defend tlie helpless young. In Warkixgtun's 

 aquarium a female laid her eggs at night on the 8th 

 of May, and on the very next day the mother was 

 driyen away b\- the male. The latter continued his 

 guardianship until tlie IStii of the same month, and 

 then began suddenly to destroy the nest, leaving oidy 

 a few stalks at the foundation. All tlie mud and 

 .sand that covered the eggs was removed in his mouth, 

 and a space about 8 centimetres in diameter carefully 

 cleared. Astonished at such conduct on the part of the 

 nest's protector, Warrinoton took a maguitying glass to 

 ascertain the cause, and discovered the new-hatched fry. 

 Henceforth the male Stickleback never ceased swimming 

 in evei-v direction over the cleared space, redoubling his 

 vigilance, and di-iving away every other tish that came 

 too near. As the young gained in size and strength, 

 they seemed anxious to leave the nest, but the father 

 intercepted them time after time, carefully taking the 

 truants in his mouth, and returning them to their 

 cjuarters. Not until the\' were strong enough to swim 

 ■with ease, did the father's \vatchful care gradually begin 

 to slacken, but at last, when they were quite capable 

 of procuring their own food, he left them entirely to 

 shift for themselves." 



When the spawning is over, the handsome colours 

 of the tish gradually disapi)ear, and its normal tem- 

 perament returns. 



From the gi-eat numbers in which this species oc- 

 curs, especially during certain years, we might suppose 

 it to be verj' prolific: but this is not the case. The 

 female has no more than 110 — 150 eggs in both ova- 

 ries; and as the restricted number of tlie males leads us 

 to assume that not all the eggs are fertilized, the fe- 

 cundity of the species cannot be set very high. In 

 spite of this, as we have already mentioned, in certain 

 years enormous shoals of Three-spined Sticklebacks are 

 met with. Several reasons have been suggested to ex- 

 plain this fact. The most probable explanation of these 

 cases in general is ("uvier's, that the years in which 

 these lai-ge shoals appear have been more than usually 

 favourable to the process of reproduction; ])ut Sunijevall 

 ex])lains a portion of these variations b}- the ftict that, 

 during the years in which the Herring-fry are plentiful 

 in the outer part of the island-belt, the Stickleback re- 



tires Tiiither and is comparatively scarce nearer to the 

 mainland; while the largest catches of Sticklebacks on 

 the coast of the mainland seem to be made during 

 periods when the opposite is the case. 



The Thi'ee-spined Stickleback, which is surpassed in 

 voracity- by few predatory fishes, becomes -very fat, and 

 is probabh- rapid of growth, soon attaining its (idl size. 

 But the statement of certain authors, that it does not 

 ]i\e nnn'e than ."! vears, seems to require corroboration. 



Tliis fish is hardly used at all as human food — 

 tlioiigh ill I'",ngland, together with Herring-fry, it of- 

 ten tempts consumers undei' the name of \\'liiteljait. 

 Steei-ei! and Tilesius state that the Stickleback which 

 occurs on the coast of Kamchatka, is delicious when 

 boiled and an excellent ingredient in soiqi. Still, even 

 the Kamchatkans themselves reject it for their own use, 

 but keep it to feed their dogs in winter. The single 

 specimens which in Scandinavia are caught at almost 

 every haul of the seine for other fish, are generally 

 thro\\ii among the offal and used as food for swine. Pre- 

 datory fishes and seafowl, however, eagerly devour the 

 Stickleliack, and it is the principal food of the Garpike. 



When the Three-spined Stickleback is taken in 

 (piantities, which happens only in certain years, it is 

 boiled down into oil, a manufacture to which so early 

 a writer as Westbeck (1753) directed the attention of 

 his countrymen. A barrel (i'/o bushels) of fresh Stickle- 

 backs yields more than one gallon of clear oil. The foot 

 (jr sediment that settles at the bottom of the cauldron 

 is an excellent manure, two liarrels (9 bushels) of this 

 sediment, mixed with a sufficient quantitv of Avater, 

 being reckoned equal to 10 lasts" of dung. 



The only method of fishing employed exclusively 

 for this fish is simple enough. The fishery commences 

 at the beginning of November — some fishermen state 

 that the Stickleback does not come in before the ground 

 has lieen covered with snow — and continues until the 

 inlets and channels have begun to freeze. Towards 

 evening, when it has been observed that the Stickle- 

 backs are collected in a shoal, the presence of which is 

 betrayed at sunset in calm weather \)\ the surface of 

 the water being rippled as if by fine rain or a shower 

 of sand, two fishermen repair to the si)ot in a boat. In 

 the bo\v of the boat is erected a kind of fire-i«in (fig. 

 104), on which dry wood is laid and kindled. When 

 the boat has reached that side of the shoal towards 



" Sw. parlass = a kind ilrawn by two liorses 



