40 THE TEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK. 



ovaria more than from one hundred and ten to one hundred 

 and fifty eggs, which are large in proportion to the size 

 of the fish ; and as from the limited number of the males 

 there is reason to believe that only a certain number of these 

 are impregnated, her fecundity cannot be great. The growth 

 of the fry is rapid ; but northern naturalists doubt the truth 

 of the story as to the fish living for only three years. In 

 the interior waters of Scandinavia, it seldom exceeds three 

 inches in length, but on the coast it is often met with an 

 inch longer. 



The Ten-spined Stickleback (Smd-Spigg, Sw. ; G. pun- 

 gitius, Linn.), as with the three-spiried, was very common 

 in the vicinity of Ronnum ; as also in almost every lake and 

 river from the far north to the very south of Sweden. It 

 is plentiful, moreover, in the eastern Skargard, but so far as 

 I am aware is not found in the western. 



The habits of the G. pungitius, which is said to be of a 

 lethargic disposition, its manner of feeding, &c., much re- 

 semble those of the G. aculeatus. Like that fish, it is 

 fond of society, and is usually found in large shoals. At 

 certain seasons of the year, indeed, the two species are 

 frequently met with together. 



Though the remarkable variation in colour observable in 

 the three-spined stickleback during the spawning season, 

 has not been noticed at that period in the ten-spined, 

 the tints of the latter, nevertheless, differ very materially 

 in summer and winter. During the winter the upper 

 part of the head and back are blueish-brown, the sides 

 silvery- white, with fine dark spots ; whilst in the summer, 

 on the contrary, the head and the whole of the upper part 

 of the body are olive-green, the under part lighter green, 



