60 WITH HARD CHEEKS, 



ACANTHOPTERYGIL WITH HARD CHEEKS. 



SEA SCORPION, SHORT-SPINED COTTUS. 



Cottus scorpius, BLOCH, pt. ii. pi. 40. 



,, ,, KLEIN, Miss. iv. pi. 13, fig. 2. 



,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 160. 



THE marine species of the genus Cottus appear to belong 

 almost exclusively to the Northern Seas ; and although plenti- 

 ful on most parts of our coast, M. Risso has not included 

 them in his History of the Natural Productions of the Envi- 

 rons of Nice, which contains most of the fishes of the Medi- 

 terranean. Very various have been the names bestowed 

 upon the species of the genus Cottus generally ; and under 

 the term Father-Lasher two species have been constantly 

 confounded in this country, and the habits and peculiari- 

 ties of both included in one history. The Sea Scorpion, 

 or short-spined Cottus, is common all round our coast, and, 

 besides being less powerfully armed than the Cottus bubalis, 

 or Father-Lasher, neither does it associate with that species. 

 The Sea Scorpion is frequently found in estuaries, and 

 measures from four or five to eight inches in length ; but it 

 is said to acquire a much larger size in the North. 



