STICKLEBACKS. 
647 
Thus both the Fifteen-spined and the Three-spined 
Sticklebacks stand nearer to the Ten-spined Stickleback 
during youth than they do in later life. During growth 
they diverge from this species, each in a special direc- 
tion. The first direction of development tends towards 
the Flute-mouths, the second, as we have mentioned 
above, towards the Trumpet-fishes. 
This conclusion differs essentially, it is true, from 
that arrived at by Heincke, but agrees with the latter in 
the most important point, namely that the Three-spined 
Stickleback is descended from a species that was extre- 
mely closely allied to the Ten-spined Stickleback, unless 
indeed its ancestor be this very species. As evidence 
in favour of this Heincke cites Gasterosteus Bussei , the 
form described from Amur in 1887 by H e rzen stein and 
Warpachowski, with 9 free spinous rays at the dorsal 
margin (like the Ten-spined Stickleback), but with a 
complete row of scutes along the sides of the body (like 
the Three-spined Stickleback). A similar form had al- 
ready been described in 1869, from David’s Chinese 
collections, by Guichenot" under the name of Gastero- 
steus sinensis , and in 1880, from Dybowski’s collections 
in the bays of Northern Japan, by Steindachner/' un- 
der the name of Gasterosteus japonicus. We have an- 
other intermediate form in Gasterosteus ( Eucalia ) in- 
constans from North America arid Greenland, with the 
branchiostegal membranes inferiorly free, at least to 
some extent, from the isthmus (as in the Ten-spined 
Stickleback) and without lateral plates on the body, but 
with only five free spinous rays at the dorsal edge”. 
The range of the genus Gasterosteus embraces both 
fresh and salt water in the Arctic and Temperate Zones 
of the Northern Hemisphere, both in the Old World and 
the New; but the number of the species is probably no 
more than five, two of which belong to the Scandi- 
navian fauna. 
THE THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK (sw. storspiggen). 
GASTEROSTEUS ACULEATUS. 
Plato XXVIII, figs. 1 (9) and 2 (( f ). 
Three (exceptionally four) free spinous rays at the dorsal margin. Branchiostegal membranes inferiorly united 
to the isthmus throughout its length. 
R. br. 3; D. Ill— IV|l 0—12 A. I|8— 10; P. 1 0 e — 1 1 ; 
V. 1 1 1 ; C. x+ 1 + 10 + 1 +(c; L. lat. 3—34 ;Vert. 31—32 A 
Syn. Gasterosteus aculeis in dorso tribus, Art., Gen. Pise., p. 52; 
Syn. Pise., p. 80; Spec. Pise., p. 96; Lin., Fn. Suec., ed. 
I, p. 103; Westbeck, Vet.-Akad. Handl. 1753, p. 261; 
Str6m, Sondm. Pester., vol. I, p. 315; Odmann, Vet.-Akad. 
Handl. 1782, p. 167. 
Gasterosteus aculeatus, Lin., Syst. Fat., ed. X, tom. I, p. 295; 
Fabr., Fn. Groenl., p. 169; Retz., Fn., Suec. Lin., p. 338; 
Pall. (G aster acanthus) Zooyr. Ross. Asiat ., tom. Ill, p. 229; 
Cuv. ( Gasterosteus ), Reyn. Anim., ed. I, tom. II, p. 320; 
Ekstr., Vet.-Akad. Handl. 1831, p. 296; Nilss., Prodr. 
Ichth. Scand., p. 85; Jenyns, Man. Brit. Vert. Anim., p. 
348 ( + G. spinulosus, p. 350); Ekstr., v. We., Skand. Fisk., 
ed. I, p. 17, tab. 4, fig. 1, a et b ; Kr., Damn. Fiske , vol. 
1, pp. 169 et 590; Lillj., Vet.-Akad. Handl. 1850, p. 309; 
Hancock, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 2, vol. X, p. 241; 
Sund., Stoekh. L. Hush. Sallsk. Hand]., H. 6 (1855) pp. 79, 
85, 176; Nilss., Skand. Fn., Fisk., p. 103; Thomps., Nat. 
Hist. Irel., vol. IV, p. 82; Heck., Kn., Siisswassei 1 /. Osterr. 
Mon., p. 38 ( + G. bracliycentrus, p. 41); Sieb, Susswasserf. 
Mitteleur., p. 66; Mgrn, Finl. Fisk.-Fn. (Disp. Helsingf.) 
p. 14; Lindstr., Gotl. L. Hush. Sallsk. Arsber. 1866, p. 14 
(sep.); Canestrini, Fn. D'ltal., pt. Ill, Pesci, p. 25; Coll., 
Forb. Vid. Selsk. Christ. 1874, Tillaegsh., p. 11; ibid. 1879, 
p. 2; N. Mag. Naturv. Christ., Bd. 29 (1884) p. 48; Malm, 
Gigs, Boh. Fn., p. 371; Seidl., Fn. Balt., p. 128; Winth., 
Naturh. Tidskr. Kblivn, ser. 3, vol. XII. p. 4; Fedders., 
ibid., p. 73; Bncke, Fisch., Fischer., Fiscliz. O., W. Preuss., 
p. 73; Id., Handb. Fischer., Fiscliz. (M. v. d. Borne), p. 
98; Mor., Hist. Nat. Poiss. Fr., tom. Ill, p. 163; Mela, 
Vert. Fenn ., p. 277, tab. IX; Day, Fish. Gt. Brit., Irel., 
vol. I, p. 238, tab. LX VIII, figg. 1—3; Ah. Aqass., Proc. 
Amer. Acad. Arts, Scienc., vol. XVII (1882), p. 288, tab. 
IX; Hansen, Zool. Dan., Fiske, p. 27, tab. V, figg. 1 et 2; 
“ Nouv. Arch. Mus. cFHist. Nat. Paris, tome V, p. 204, pi. 12, fig. 4. 
h Stzber. Akad. Wiss. Wien. Math. Naturw. Cl., Bd. LXXXII, i, p. 264, taf. Ill, fig. 2. 
r Cf. Jordan and Gilbert, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 16, p. 394. 
d Sometimes 8, according to Kroyer. 
,, 14, ,, ,, Lilljeborg. 
e „ 9, ,, ,, Kroyer. 
f Exceptionally 30, sometimes 33, according to Fatio. 
Scandinavian Fishes . 
82 
