GEN. SEBASTES. THE BEKCYLT. 157 



coloured silvery white beneath; the fins are red. 

 Pennant says it is almost a foot in length, and it is 

 esteemed for the table. According to Fabricius, its 

 flesh is dry but agreeable, and is eaten either cooked 

 or dried. In Greenland it inhabits the deepest 

 gulfs, and seldom approaches the shores ; it feeds 

 upon smaller fishes, and readily takes the hook, the 

 line requiring to be very long. The Greenlanders 

 used in former times to employ its dorsal spines as 

 needles. 



Gen. XIII. GASTEROSTEUS. STICKLEBACKS. 

 The last genus of this family which has representa- 

 tives in the British waters is Gasterosteus, includ- 

 ing the well-known Sticklebacks Scotice, Ben tides. 

 The Latin name has been applied to them because 

 they have on the abdomen a long cuirasse extend- 

 ing from the shoulder to the pelvis, covered over by 

 the common integuments ; and the English, from 

 the spines which arm their back, ventral fins, and 

 other parts. They constitute the smallest of our 

 fresh-water fish, and are also amongst the most 

 common ; there being scarcely a stream or pool in 

 which they may not be found, and where in certain 

 seasons they do not actually swarm. The shape 

 of their head does not attract notice ; and at first 

 glance it would not be suspected that their cheeks 

 were mailed : the situation of the suborbital bone, 

 however, is the same as in the other members of the 

 family, although it is smooth and covered over by 

 the skin. The leading particulars now noticed form 

 the generic characters of the group. 



