.SI'INED LOACH. 



711 



his M\oc;itioii l)uret()otL'd in the isinmiun- tlic fish not 

 uni'requeiitlv wuuiuls his feet;" and if the t^pinc he 

 broken off and left in tlie wonnd, it may well cause 

 some trouble. i5ut, as Blanchai!])" has already re- 

 marked, these spines cannot serve as any formidal)le 

 weapons of defence, even if they are employed in this 

 capacity in case of need. Cederstrom assumes their 

 function to be the protection of the eyes, as the fish 

 burrows along in the sand or gravel. Perhaps they may 

 also be organs of adhesion, like the opercular and inter- 

 opcrcn];ir spines of the Stegophilido', those small Brazi- 

 lian (ilaiKiUKirphs'' which usually take refuge in the 

 branchial cavity of larger fishes, and retain their posi- 

 tion there by means of the said spines, but which also 

 try to force their way into other cavities, or to attach 

 themselves with the spines to the skin of larger aquatic 

 animals oi- of persons bathing or wading. 



The spawning-season occurs in spring and early 

 summer, from April to July; but as yet we know no- 

 thing of its course. It is generally stated that the males 

 are far rarer than the females; but in a consignment 

 of some thirty specimens from the River Skeninge there 

 were as nian\- males as females. The former being. 



however, as a rule smaller than females of the same age, 

 they probably manage more easily to escape observation. 



The food of the Spined Loach consists principally 

 of small crustaceans, Entomostracn {Lynceida;, according 

 to C'ederstrom); but the fish also preys on all other mi- 

 nute animals that come in its way. According to Kroyer 

 it is "fairly voracious and lives on worms, but also on 

 fish-roe, small fry, and other minute aquatic animals.' 

 The Spined Loach shows the same propensities in aquaria, 

 where it is "interesting by reason of the eagerness with 

 which it roots up the bottom in (piest of food, casting 

 sand and gravel in pellets out of its gill-openings" 

 (Benecke). 



The Spined Loach is of little use as luunan food, 

 the flesh lieing dry and tough; but as bait for Eels, 

 Pike, and other predatory fisiies it may be employed 

 with advantage ' . 



In the Malar Provinces the Spined Loach is known 

 by several names: tanglake (Tang Burbot), according to 

 Artedi; onnfisk (Snake-fish), according to Gyllen- 

 stjerna (in Nilsson); stenlake (Stone Burbot), according 

 to Iverus (in Lilljeborg). In Scania Lilljeborg heard 

 it called stciihit (Stone-biter). 



THE LOACH (sw. geonlingen). 



C0B1T1.S BARBATULA. 



Plate XXXI, fig. 5. 



Bo(hi raihrr teref''. Head somewhat depressed: its Jireadth (thiekiiess) at the eyes wore than -,,, of its length: 

 breadth of the interorhital space greater than the tongitadinal diameter of the eges. Xo preorhital spine tielon- the eyes. 



(.SI. 2) + i (2 1. i) +i 1 . 



R. i,. i, LK — g^-; A. —^^■- P- JYJ.-T2' 



; ('. .r + 1 + 10 + 1 + x: Vert. 41 ''. 



(6)7 1.8 



Spi. Cobilis bavhatala, KoND., Pise, part. II. p. '204. Cobitiit tota 

 glabra mneiilosa, corpore subteveti, Art., Icht/iyol., Gen. Pise, 

 p. 2; Syn. Pise, p. 2; Lin., Fit. Suec, ed. I, p. 125. 

 Cobilis Darhahda, Lin., Syst. Nat., ed. X, torn. I, p. 303; 

 Penn., Brit. ZooL, vol. Ill (ed. 1776), p. 247, tab. LVIII, 

 No. 142; Bl. Natiirrj. Fislt. Deutschl, part. I, p. 224, tab. 

 XXXI, fig. 3; Pall., Zoogv. Boss. Asiat., torn. Ill, p. 164; 

 NiLSS., Prodi: fchtli. Scartd., p. 35; Cuv., Val., Hist. Nat. 

 Poiss., vol. XVIII, p. 14, tab. 520; Kr., Damn. Fisk., vol. 

 m, p. 539; NiLSS., Skand. Fn., Fisl., p. 343; Kessl., Bull. 

 Soc. Natural. Mosc, torn. XXIX, p. 350: Tiiojirs., Nat. 



Hist. Irel., vol. IV, p. 130; Sund., v. Wr., Strand. Fislc., 

 cd. 1. p. 207, tab. 53; Hckl, Kn., Siissirasserf. Oesterr. 

 Mon., p. 301; Mgbn, Finl. Fisk. (disp. Helsingf.), p. 36: 

 Canestr., Arch. Zool., Anat., Fisiol., vol. lY, fasc. I, p. 144; 

 Steind. Stzber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math. Nalurw. CI., LIII, i 

 (1866), p. 203; Blanch., Poiss. d. eaux douces Fr., p. 280; 

 Gthr (Nemacliiliis'), Cat. Brit. Miis., Fish., vol. VII, p. 354; 

 SCKDSTR., Fn. Sveriij. Rygyradsdj., p. 278; Feddees. (Co- 

 litis), Naturh. Tidskr. Kbhvii, ser. 3, vol. XII, p. 92; 

 MOR., Hist. Nat. Poiss. Fr., torn. Ill, p. 432; Bncke, 

 Fisclt., Fisclier., Fisclic. 0., W. Prettss., p. 145; Mela, 

 Vert. Feiin., p. 313, tab. X; Day (^Nemaclieilus), Fish. 

 Gt. Brit., Ire!., vol. II, p. 203, tab. CXXXVII, fig. 2; 

 Mob., Hcke (Colitis), Fisch. Osts., p. 123; Lillj., Sv., 

 Norg. Fisk., vol. Ill, p. 832; Fatio (Nemachilus) Fn. 

 Vert. Suisse, vol. V, p. 19. 



" Poiss. d. eaux douces Fr., p. 287. 



' See Reinbaedt, Vid. Meddel. Naturb. For. Kbbvn, 1858, pp. 83 et seqq. Lt'TKEX, ibid. 1891, p. 55, note. 



' BLANOHtRE, La pedie et les poissons, p. 449. 



'' Sometimes 39 (LiLUEBOBC), 40 (Krover), or 42 (Valenxiennes). 



