56 THE FRESH-WATER FISHES OF EUROPE. 



All its rays are simple spines. The caudal fin is less than one-tenth of 

 the entire length of the body. It possesses fourteen rays of nearly equal 

 length, of which nine in the middle are subdivided into bifid forks. 



The number of rays in the fins is very similar to that in Coitus gobio. The 

 colour, too, is very similar. All the fins are dotted with brown ; the spots 

 form vertical bands in the pectoral and caudal fins, and horizontal bands in 

 the other fins. These bands number six or seven in the ventral fins. The 

 number of branchiostegal rays is six, occasionally five, or they may be 

 unsym metrical, as in Salmon, six on one side, and five on the other. The 

 number of pyloric appendages also varies; Heckel and Kner record five in 

 the male and four long ones in the female. 



This species is met with in the Pyrenees, Carpathians, in the Vistula of 

 Galicia, and many mountainous localities in Hungary and Bukowina. Von 

 Siebold remarks that he is disposed to attach less importance than do Heckel 

 and Kner to the jointed rays of the pectoral fin, and states that in Cottus 

 gobio, the jointing of the rays is variable, the same ray being as often simple 

 as jointed. 



Cottus scorpius (BLOCH). The Sea Bullhead, or 

 Father Lasher. 



D. 10/14, A. 1112, P. 17, V. 3, C. 18, Vertebra 1213/22. 



The body is club-shaped, strongly compressed towards the tail, with a 

 large head, which is somewhat depressed. The mouth aperture is wide, 

 and reaches back to behind the eyes ; it has a projecting upper lip. There 

 are two small spines above the snout, and four obtuse tubercles on the 

 crown of the head. The pre-operculum has three spines, of which the upper 

 one is the largest ; the operculum has one large spine. There are teeth in 

 the jaws, and on the vomer. The tongue is short, thick, hard, and free 

 from teeth. The eyes are large, and elevated in position on the side of 

 the head ; the iris is yellowish. The nasal apertures are simple, tubular, 

 and are placed midway between the eyes and the labial margin. The 

 skin is naked, thick, and soft. It sometimes contains bony granules, 

 which in Prussian specimens are arranged in a few irregular rows. The 

 two dorsal fins are united by a low membrane. The very large pectoral 

 fins are placed at the sides of the head, and when expanded are quite as 

 high as the body, and are larger in the male than in the female. The 

 small ventral fins are placed below the pectorals, on the throat. All the 

 fins except the caudal have unjointed rays. 



The colour of the upper side of the body is dark brown-blackish, or 



