TttE FlFfEEN-SHNED STICKlElUcK. 



Jt-~ ___________^^___^__________________ 



Where found Habits How caught. 



the belly consist of two spines, the foremost or* 

 which is the longest. In the fin at the anus there 

 is also a curved spine, but the other fins are soft 

 and ramified. 



The fifteen-spined sticklebacks, like the last 

 ftientioned species, are found in the Baltic sea 

 and German ocean ; they are very common iri 

 Holland, and also near Lubeck in the duchy of 

 Holstein. M. Bloch says, that their ordinary 

 size does not exceed seven inches, and that he 

 has found small crabs in their stomach. The 

 great stickleback does not ascend the rivers like 

 the other kinds, never leaving the sea, where it 

 is taken among other fish. Large quantities are 

 sometimes caught by kindling a fire on the shore, 

 which draws them in shoals to the nets. A kind 

 of lamp oil is extracted from them, and what 

 remains is used a manure. They are, however> 

 frequently eaten by the poor. 



The first who published a description of this 

 fish was Schoneveld. Succeeding naturalists have 

 bestowed on it a small portion of attention, other- 

 wise Linnajus, Mr. Pennant, and their copyists, 

 would not have asserted that the fins of the belly 

 are wanting. M. Bloch describes the roe as con* 

 listing of two cylindrical parts, joined together at 

 the umbilical aperture, and containing one bun* 

 dred and eighty four eggs of a pale yellow color, 

 as large as grains of millet. 



YOL. V. NO. 36. 2 O 



