230 FAUNA OF SHROPSHIRE. 



and these vary considerably in number. The Stickleback 

 constructs a nest of water- weeds, etc., in March or April, 

 and this is jealously guarded by the male. Its habits 

 make this fish a most interesting inmate of the aquarium. 



TEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK. This species is dis- 



G. pungitius. tinguished from the last by having ten 



spines on the back, and by the skin 



being naked or devoid of scaly plates. It was found 



by Rev. W. Houghton in ditches on the Weald- Moors. 



Flounder. This common flat fish sometimes ascends rivers 



Pleuronectes flesus. for a considerable distance above tidal 



waters. Years ago, before the time of 



Severn navigation weirs, and when the barge traffic kept 



a pretty clear channel, Flounders used to be taken in 



Shropshire ; and one or two older Shrewsbury residents 



still relate that in their youthful days they occasionally 



captured specimens when bottom fishing. 



Eel. Common in most pools, canals, and rivers. Large 

 Anguilla vulgaris. numbers of "elvers" (as the young 



are called), may often be seen ascend- 

 ing small brooks. Before a thunderstorm Eels become 

 very active, and what is termed in fishing parlance 

 "run." They will then swim about rapidly near the 

 surface, and have been said even to leave the water and 

 to travel over wet grass to another pool or stream. They 

 can exist a long time out of water. Generally speaking 

 their habits are sluggish. Old writers describe two 

 species of Eel the Broad-nosed, and Sharp-nosed. It 

 is now known that the former is the female, the latter 

 the male of the same fish. The male generally measures 

 about 1 8 inches, but the female often exceeds three feet 



