SNIPE-FISH. 129 



repeated with other females in succession, and finally the male 

 takes up his position outside the nest and jealously guards it 

 it against all comers until the young Sticklebacks are hatched. 

 Oddly enough, the most persistent assailants are the mothers 

 themselves, who seek to devour the eggs. 



The TeD-spined Stickleback, Gastrosteiis pungitius, 425, is not 

 so common as the Three-spined Stickleback; it has nine short 

 spines on the back and a longer tenth. The Fifteen-spined 

 Stickleback, Spinachia vulgaris, 426, is a marine form, common 

 in rock pools around the British and other coasts of Europe. 



The Flute-mouth or Tobacco-pipe-fish, Fistularia tabaccaria, Flute- 

 428, has a long, slender body, with the snout produced into a mouth - 

 long tube, which has the mouth, small and toothless, situated 

 at the end. The first four vertebra? are much elongated and 

 are fused together ; the supratemporal bones are much produced 

 posteriorly. There are no spines in the fins, and no scales, but 

 bony plates, in the skin. There is a distinct caudal fin, which 

 is forked and has the median fin-rays produced into ,a filament. 

 The fish swims near the surface in shallow seas of the tropical 

 and sub-tropical regions of the globe. 



The Aulostomatida? (427) bear a general resemblance to the 

 Fistulariidee, but differ in the following respects : — there are 

 spines in front of the dorsal fin, the caudal fin is rhombic, and 

 without the elongated central fin-rays, there are small, ctenoid 

 scales in the skin and small teeth in the jaws. 



In the Snipe-fishes (family Centriscidse, e.g. 430) the body Snipe- 

 is laterally compressed and deep vertically; the snout is in the 

 form of a tube, with the small toothless mouth at its extremity; 

 some of the anterior vertebra? are elongated ; the front part 

 of the dorsal fin has a few spines, one much larger than the 

 others ; the anal fin has no spines. Scales are present, also 

 bony scutes dorsally and ventrally, forming an incomplete bony 

 armour which is distinct from the vertebra?. The Common 

 Snipe-fish is widely distributed in warm seas, and is sometimes 

 found off the south coast of England. 



The Amphisile (432;, sometimes called the Needle-fish or Aiirphi- 

 Shrimp-fish, is a curious, semi-transparent little fish, which s ^ e - 

 carries the body with the long axis upright, and cleaves the 



K 



