Vol. III. 



JANUARY, 1895. 



Copyright 1894. All Rights Reserved. 



No. 84. 



THE STICKLEBACK. 



(Gasterosieics.) 



Of the five or six species of the stic- 

 klebacks that live in American waters, 

 the Gasterosteus aculeatus or two-spined 

 Stickleback is, as far as our experience 

 goes, the most interesting one for the 

 fresh water Aquarium. We have pairs 

 of them building nests and hatching 

 out their young in our tanks every 

 spring, and as we can approve to the 

 description given by Dr. Lankester, of 

 England, we give his article. He says : 



"T mention this little fish first, be- 

 cause I think he has claims to the rank 

 of the king of fishes. Whether we i*e- 

 gard his high organization, his cour- 

 ageous nature, his domestic habits, his 

 varied instincts, his power of living in 

 all waters, at all telpijDeratures, he is 

 fairly entitled to take the first jDlace 

 among fishes, and high rank in the an- 

 imal scale. And where is this wonder- 

 ful fish to be got ? The nearest jjool 

 pond or ditch that has life in it, is sure 

 to have sticklebacks in it. Take a walk 

 on the nearest road out of any country 

 town, and the chances are that the first 

 boy you meet with a blacking bottle or 

 a pickle jar in his hand, has got stickle- 

 backs in it. They are the first game 



of the youthful sportsman all over 

 Great Britain. You need not catch 

 them yourself ; a penny will buy a score 

 of them from any of these urchins. 

 But should you wish to catch them for 

 yourself — always a great pleasure, and 

 an art to be cultivated — then a hand- 

 net will take them by dozens ; but this 

 is a cowardly, wholesale way. If you 

 wish for 'sport' at the same time, you 

 will angle for them, not, however, with 

 cruel hooks. The stickleback is much 

 too brave and incautious a fellow to 

 need a hook. A little red worm, at the 

 end of a jiiece of twine, is all that is 

 necessary to secure him. Once having 

 seized the worm, he never lets go, 

 though you drag him out of one element 

 into another. When you have secured 

 your stickleback, you must not incon- 

 siderately place him with other fishes. 

 I have asserted that he is a royal fish, 

 and you will soon discover that he will 

 bear no rivals. No sooner is he fairly 

 free in your Aquarium than he recom- 

 mences his reign and not always, I 

 must confess, of the mildest sovereignty. 

 The chances are, if you put him with 

 fish of his own size, you will find 

 them all dead in the morning. Sad 

 spectacle I disemboweled by the use of 



