182 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



almost invariably to be met with in rocky places, a little beyond low water-mark- 

 There is also this peculiarity, that the sites of these are Tisually cavities, from 

 8 to 10 inches in diameter, opening horizontally into the water. Mr. West, of 

 Pennan, informs me that in one case he came upon a hen seated on her nest, just, 

 he supposed, as she had completed the process of spawning. She adhered very 

 tenaciously, manifesting at the same time considerable intrepidity, which seemed 

 to be shared by her companion, the cock, who, during the struggle kept close by, 

 flitting through and through the water in a state of violent agitation." Fabricius 

 even aiSrms that should the AnarrhicJias, or wolf -fish, approach the nest of this 

 fish he hazards his life, for although the teeth of the lump-sucker are small, it is 

 able to attach itself to its adversary's neck and inflict a wound which will be 

 mortal. Sharks and rays will devour the lump-fish. 



Life history.— The changes undergone by this fish, both as to the form of its 

 body, its fins, the character of its skin, and its colours, are very remarkable. 

 I am indebted to Mr. Jackson, of the Southport Aquarium, for some of the fry 

 from one to three days old, hatched in that institution, and to Mr. Carrington, of 

 the Westminster Aquarium, for a fine series, but of a larger size. On first 

 emerging from the egg, and for the first few days, or even weeks, of its life, its 

 appearance when looked at from above is much that of a young tadpole, the body 

 forming an oval anteriorly, fiattened from above, while the posterior half or 

 rather more of the fish is narrow and strongly compressed : no tubercles are 

 present on any part of the body. At a little over 1^ inches, the first dorsal fin is 

 distinct, with about six rays, but its base is rather fleshy, and on its anterior edge 

 are two spinate tubercles, the lower being the larger. A row of spinate tubercles 

 runs along the back : a second from above the eye to the centre of base of the 

 caudal fin : while a third similar row is well developed along either side of the 

 abdominal edge, ceasing at the vent. Between these tubercles the skin is entirely 

 smooth. At 2 inches the first dorsal fin is more enveloped in rough skin, and the 

 skin between the rows of tubercles has commenced to be covered with small but 

 rough tuberosities. At 2| inches the dorsal ridge and the rough skin enveloping 

 the first dorsal fin have become more developed, while at 6 inches, as shown in the 

 figure, merely the ends of some of the i-ays of the first dorsal fin are perceptible, 

 the back at this situation forming a large and almost pyramidal elevation. 

 The skin between the rows of spinate tubercles is also densely studded with 

 small elevations. 



As food. — The quality of its flesh is said to be affected by the season, it 

 becoming worthless after spawning, but due to the odour it exhales it is 

 generally rejected : it is said to dissolve in the mouth like mucilage or oil. 

 Pennant remarks that in his time it was sometimes eaten in England, being 

 stewed like a carp, but he considered it to be both flabby and insipid. Donovan 

 likewise asserted that skinned and stewed by some its flesh was thought to be 

 not indifferent. Sir T. Brown, in 1662, recorded it as " esteemed by some as 

 a festival fish, though it affords but a glutinous jelly, and the skin is beset with 

 stony knobs after no certain order." Pennant observed that the seals prey on 

 them, leaving the skins, numbers of which thus emptied float ashore during spring 

 on the coast of Sutherland. Johnston, writing from Berwickshire, remarked that 

 although not in use as food, the cock especially, is reported to be excellent when 

 fried or baked. Buckland records that the males are the best as food, their flesh 

 is soft, rich, and oily, and some inhabitants of Edinburgh deem it second only to 

 turbot if fried or baked : while Sir Walter Scott, in the Antiquary, makes 

 Mr. Oldbuck offer the same price for a cock-paidle as he does for a bannock- 

 fluke or turbot. *' On the west coast of Scotland," remarks Parnell, "sometimes 

 as many as two dozens are taken in the salmon nets at almost every tide, 

 principally in the month of June, when they seek the sandy ground to deposit 

 their spawn. The fishermen boil them down with vegetables for their pigs and 

 consider them to be fattening food." The roe is boiled to a pulp and eaten by 

 the Greerlanders, 



Habitat. — Most abundant in cold latitudes, it extends from the seas of Northern 

 Europe, being found off Iceland, along the coasts of Scandinavia, Denmark, and 



