"ttm TIIREE-SriNED STICKLE-BAOE. ^iC 



^be '^hree-Spined Stickle^Back *• 



Thi3 fpecles Is broad, and comprefTed lateralJj : it fel* 

 dom exceeds two inches and a half in length ; is of an 

 olive green upon the back j the belly white : la fome 

 the throat and belly are red. Before the doifal tin there 

 are three fliarp ipines which can be raifed or depreffed ac 

 pleafure ; behind the anus there is one, foraetimes two. 

 Hill llronger, which are fixed to a bony plate. The tea- 

 fpined itilckle-back is of a Hill fmaller fize, and a more 

 ilunder form ; the fides are (inooth, not plated as ia the 

 preceding fpecies. The fifhers ailert, that this animal is 

 produced fpontaneoudy, and from them fiihes of various 

 kinds : The foundation of this extravagant notion, is their 

 obferving them in ponds newly dug, where, in the courfe 

 tif a few years, different fifn have been found. We have 

 already alTigned our reafons for thefe appearances, wilh= 

 '•iiU having recourfe to fuch an ill-founded hypotheusf. 



1^'he Fiftecn.Sfiiied Stickle-back f . 



bcHalJFELDT firft dcfcribed this animal, v/hich is an inha- 

 bitant only of the fe^a, aud is much larger than any of the 



twa 



* Gafterofteus acnlcatus, L:n. Syfr. Stlcklc-back, or Shsrpiing, Will. 



'J- Vide Chap. i. fed. 4. Of the generation of fiihes. 



I 4quleatus aiarinus major, Wili. Gafterwfteus Spinachia, Lin. Syft. 



