148 DIVISION I. VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. —CLASS IV. PISCES. 
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| haunts among the rocks. With the exception of their armed and tuber- 
culated heads, they resemble the perches. Their spines are considered 
poisonous. As a general thing, the fishes of the Hard-check family are all 
very disagreeable in appearance, and most of them entirely useless to man as 
food, and, with the exception of the following group, totally devoid of interest. 
Genus Gastrrosteus. — The Stickleback. This fish receives its name 
from the free spines on the back, and a bony covering on the belly. There 
are several species, chiefly distinguished by the number and character of 
| their spines. They inhabit both salt and fresh water. The Stickleback is a 
small fish, but extremely voracious. It is, however, one of the few fishes 
which exhibit anything like an affection for their progeny. It possesses the 
parental instinct to a remarkable degree, and manifests much skill in the 
construction of the nest which it prepares for its spawn. After the fish has 
collected the materials, it covers them with sand, glues the walls with a 
mucous secretion, and prepares a suitable entrance. At a later period, it be- 
comes the bold and indefatigable defender of its eggs, repelling, with tooth and 
_ prickles, all other Sticklebacks that approach the nest. If the enemy is too 
| powerful, it has recourse to artifice — darts forth, seems actively engaged in 
the pursuit of an imaginary prey, and succeeds in diverting the aggressor’s 
attention from its nest. 
Tun Sermxtp.2.— The third family of bony fishes is thus named. They 
also resemble the perches, but have no teeth on the palate. The muzzle is 
thickened, and there are a few scales on the dorsal fins. There are over 
twenty genera, many of them distinguished for their fine colors. Most of 
them are foreign, but quite a number are found in American seas, among 
which are Ofolithus, with weak anal spines, no cirri, and some elongated 
or canine teeth; Coreina, with small, crowded teeth, and the second anal 
spine rather strong; Johniuws, much esteemed as food, the flesh being white 
and easy of digestion; Z’ques, with a long and compressed body, elevated 
at the shoulders, and tapering to the tail; and HZ@mulon, with a lengthened 
muzzle, resembling that of a hog, and the lower jaw compressed, opening 
very wide, and of a bright red, on which account, in the West Indies, they 
are called “ Red-throats.” 
The Mediterranean has a remarkable genus (the Umbrina), distinguished 
| by a cirrus on the lower jaw. It is an extremely beautiful fish, of a golden 
ground color, with bright bands of steel blue. It sometimes attains the 
_ weight of forty pounds, and its flesh is highly esteemed. 
THe Sparm«®2.—Sea-bream tribe. The Sparide constitute the fourth. 
family of bony fishes. In general appearance they resemble the Scéwnide. 
