Sp • THE STICKL;f:.BACK; 



Section II. 







GenX's XXXIX. tj'Joe SticHe.hack. 



X His genus is readily known hy the formidable fpines 

 which rife from the back of the greater part of thefifh that 

 compofe it. There are eleven fpecies enumerated in the fy- 

 llem of nature, three of which only are inhabitants of our ri- 

 vers and fliores ; namely, that with three : tliat with ten, and 

 that with fifteen fpines upon the back. The former are feen 

 in irrimenfe quantities in the fens of LincoItiJIjire, and the 

 rivers that^flow from them. At Spalding, they appear once 

 every fcven or eight yeai^s, in the Wclland, where they 

 mount the river in fuch vafl colurrwis, that they si'e ufed 

 in manuring the land. An idea of their numbers may 

 be formed, from a circumftance mentioned by Feimant^ 

 of a man earning four fliillings a-day by taking and fell" 

 ing them to the farmer at an halfpenny a bulhel *. The 

 caufe of thefe temporary migrations of the ftickle-back, 

 is fuppofed to arife from the vaft quantities wafhed out 

 of the fens by the floods, and colledled in feme deep hole, 

 till overcharged with numbers, they are obliged penodiT 

 cally to attempt a change of habitation. 



The body is oblong, compreffed, and frequently co- 

 vered with rough fcales. The fnout is long ; and the 

 mouth thick fet v^ith fmall granulated teelh. There is 

 one dorfal, and one anal iin ; the pccloral are fmall, and 

 iliarp pointed, fituated upon the thorax, which i^ co-* 

 X'ered W\\hfciita or bony plates. 



* Britilh Zoology, Cla£s {v. gen. %\. \ 



