342 NEW YORK STATE MUSE'UM 



The two spined stickleback thrives and breeds in captivity^ 

 but will not endure extreme heat in summer, and the adults will 



eat their young. 



Genus apeltes De Kay- 

 Body moderately elongate, somewhat compressed, the back 

 elevated at the beginning of the soft dorsal fin, thence declining 

 in nearly a straight line to tip of snout; tail very slender, not 

 keeled; no bony dermal plates, the skin naked; innominate bones 

 not joined on the median line but separated, forming a bony 

 ridge on each side of the abdomen, below which the strong ven- 

 tral spines are depressible; chest mostly bany; bare area in 

 front of pectorals small, but distinct; gill rakers rather short, 

 gill membranes attached to the isthmus, without free edge; 

 free dorsal spines three, strong, the first the longest, directed 

 to one side, the next two directed toward the other side at dif- 

 ferent angles, attached spine of dorsal and anal well developed, 

 a bony ridge on each side of the spinous dorsal. 



172 Apeltes quadracus (Mitchill) 

 Four spieled StlcklebaeTc 



Oastcronteiis qtiadracvs Mitchill, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y. I, 430, pi. 



I, fig. 11, 1815, New York; De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 67. pi. 6. fig. 



18, 1842, the generic i^ame Apeltes proposed; Gunther, Cat. Fish. 



Brit. Mus. I, 7, 1859; Storer, Hist. Fish. Mass. 41. pi. VIII, fig. 4, 1S67. 

 Oasterosteus niiUepunctahis Ayres, Bost. Jour. Nat. Hist. TV, 294, pi. XII, 



fig. 3, 1844. Old Mans Harbor, Long Island. 

 Apeltes quadracus Goode & Bean, Bull. Essex Inst, XI, 5, 1879; Jordan 



& Gilbert, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 396, 1883; Bean, 19th Kept. 



Oouinirs. Fish. N. Y. 244, 1890; Fishes Penua. 90, 1893; Jordan & 



I>erm.\nn, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus. 752, 189G, pi. CXX, fig. 322, 1900; 



Eugene Smith, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. Y. No. 9. p. 31, 1898; Mearns, Bull. 



Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. X, 318, 1898; Bean, 52d Ann, Rept. N. Y. Stale 



Mus. 100, 1900. 



The body is fusiform in shape, the snout pointed and the 

 caudal i)eduncle slender. The sides are somewhat compressed. 

 The depth of the body equals the length of the head and is one 

 fourth uf the total without caudal. D. III-IV, I. 11; A. i. S. 

 The skin is scaleless. The first dorsal sjune is the highest, its 

 Icngdi about half that of head. 



