68 NEW-YORK FAUNA. 
THE MANY-SPINED STICKLEBACK. 
GASTEROSTEUS OCCIDENTALIS. 
PLATE XLII. FIG, 135.—(STATE COLLECTION.) 
Lépinochette de Terra-neuve. Cuv. et Vau. Hist. Poiss. Vol. 4, p. 509. 
The Ten-spined Stickleback, G. pungitius. Storer, Fishes of Mass. p. 32. 
Characteristics. With more than seven spines in front of the dorsal fin. Tail armed. Length 
one to two inches. 
Description. Body elongated, compressed, tapering from the origin of the dorsal fin. Head 
small; eyes prominent. Nostrils round, simple, and contiguous to the orbits. Mouth ver- 
tical. Sides of the tail distinctly carinated, with from twelve to fourteen distinct plates. 
Dorsal spines ten in number, incurved, placed in a groove, and alternately directed to the 
right or left; the first is slightly in advance of a line vertical to the base of the pectoral fins. 
The dorsal fin high, subtriangular, and composed of one stout spine and seven soft rays. 
Anal fin beneath the preceding, and similar to it in shape, with one spine and nine soft rays. 
Ventral spines triangular, acute ; a buckler extended into a point behind, between the ventral 
spines, with from four to six transverse furrows between those spines. Caudal fin elongated, 
rounded. 
Color. Olive-green, with a tinge of yellow. 
Length, 1°5 — 2:0. 
Hin rays, DOlO-1.7 5 Pads Vee ARO C2 3: 
Although this species differs somewhat in its radial formula from the occzdentalis of Cuvier, 
yet its elongated slender form and carinated tail has led me to refer it to that species. Sub- 
sequent observations must verify the truth of this conjecture. It will scarcely be referred, I 
think, to the G. pungitius of Europe. 
This little species is found both in fresh and salt water. I have specimens caught in the 
harbor of New-York, in company with the Syngnathus fuscus ; and also from a fresh-water 
pond on the island of New-York, near the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, where the communication 
with the sea is interrupted during the greater part of the year. 
(EXTRA-LIMITAL.) 
G. mainensis. (Storer, Bost. Jour. Vol. 1, p. 464.) Back with seven spines, the last longest; a 
broad oblong serrated plate on the side; with numerous dusky transverse bands. Length two 
inches. Fresh water. Mavne. 
G. niger. (Cuv. et Vax. Vol. 4, p. 503.) Entirely black; tail armed; ventral spines very long. 33 
lateral plates. ‘Two inches. Newfoundland. 
G. concinnus. (Ricuarpson, F. B. A. Vol. 3, p. 57.) Body scaleless; tail slightly keeled on the 
sides; nine dorsal spines. Length an inch and a quarter. Fresh water. Northern Regions. 
G. inconstans. (Kirtianp, Zool. Ohio, p. 191, ined.) 
