THE S TICKL EBA CKS. 



101 



The Common Grey Mullet (Mugil capito) occurs all round the coasts of Europe, and as far south 

 as the Cape of Good Hope, and has also been met with in the Nile and fresh-water lakes of Tunis. It 

 is the most common of the European Grey Mullets, but, like all the other species of the genus, 

 it is very variable. It is usually seen near to the shore, and in Great Britain always returns with 

 the tide, when it ventures up rivers. When kept in salt-water ponds the fish become so tame as to 

 assemble at a signal given them. When enclosed in the seine net the Grey Mullet often leaps over 

 the head line, and is followed by all its associates, in the same way that Sheep follow their bell 

 wether. They feed on soft and fat food, especially such as is slightly decayed. In Guernsey tho 

 Mullet has been kept in fresh -water ponds, and found to improve in weight even more rapidly than 

 the other sea fishes which have been experimented upon in the same way. The colour upon the top of 

 the head and back is greyish-blue, while the sides and belly are silvery, with parallel dusky lines 

 running along the length. The Mugil septentrionalis is found on the British and Scandinavian coasts, 

 and reaches a length of twenty-three inches. A third British species (Mugil curtus) is occasionally 

 captured in the English Channel. 



The twelfth division is the Gasterosteiformes, a small group of fishes comprising the Sticklebacks 

 and the Pipe-fishes of the family Fistularidse. 



FAMILY XLIV. GASTEROSTEID^]. 



The Sticklebacks all belong to the genus Gasterosteus, of which eleven species and several 

 varieties are known. These are small fishes of elegant form, mostly limited to fresh or brackish water. 



TE.N-SFINEU STICKLEBACKS. 



