658 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
THE TEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK OR TINKER (sw. smasfiggen). 
GASTEROSTEUS PUNGITIUS. 
Plate XXVIII, figs. 3 and 4. 
Free spinous rays on the hack usually 9 (7 a — 12). Branchiostegal membranes united underneath into a fold 
posteriorly free from the isthmus. 
R. hr. 3; D. 7“— 121 0 — 12; A. 18 — 10 ; P. 9—10; V. '/\ ; 
C. x -|- 1 4" 1 0 4- 1 4" x ; Vert. 32 — 33. 
Syn. Gasterosteus aculeis in dorso decern, Art., Ichth., Gen., p. 52; 
Syn. p. 80; Spec., p. 97; Lin., Fn. Suec., ed. I, p. 104. 
Gasterosteus Pungitias , Lin., Syst. Nat., ed. X, tom. I, p. 296; 
Fn. Suec., ed. II, p. 119; Retz., Fn. Suec. Lin., p. 338; 
P all. (G aster acanthus), Zooyr. Ross. Asiat., tom. Ill, p. 228; 
Cuv., Val. ( Gasterosteus ), Hist. Nat. Poiss., vol. IV, p. 506; 
Ekstr., Vet. Akad. Handl. 1831, p. 302; Nilss., Prodr. 
Ichth. Scand., p. 86; Ekstr., Skand Fisk., ed. I, p. 20, 
v. Wright, tab. IV, fig. 2; Kr., Damn. Fiske, vol. I, pp. 188 
et 593; Sundev., Stockh. L. Hush. Sallsk. Handl., H. 6 (1855), 
p. 79; Nilss., Skand. Fn., Fisk. p. 110; Thomps., Nat. 
Hist. Irel., vol. IV, p. 89; Gthr, Cat. Brit. Mus., Fish., 
vol. I, p. 6; Sieb., Siissiv. Mitteleur., p. 72; Mgrn, Finl. 
Fisk-Fn. (disp. Helsingf.), p. 15; Lindstr., Gotl. Lans Hush. 
Sallsk. Arsber. 1866, p. 15 (sep.); Coll., Forh. Vid. Selsk. 
Christ. 1874, Tillregsh., p. 13; ibid. 1879, No. 1, p. 4; 
N. Mag. Naturv. Christ., Bd. 29 (1884), p. 49; Day, Journ. 
Linn. Soc. Lond., vol. XIII (1876), Zook, p. 110; Malm, 
Gbgs, Boh. Fn., p. 373; Seidl., Fn. Balt., p. 128; Winth., 
Nat. Tidskr. Kbhvn, ser. 3, vol. XII, p. 4; Feeders., ibid., 
p. 74; Mor., Hist. Nat. Poiss. Fr., tom. Ill, p. 169; Day, 
Fish. Gt. Brit., Irel., vol. I, p. 244, tab. LXVIII, fig. 4; 
Mela, Vert. Fenn., p. 279, tab. IX; Fatio, Fn. Vert. Suisse, 
vol. IV, part. I, p. 98; Hansen, Zool. Dan., Fiske, p. 30, 
tab. V, fig. 3; Storm, Norsk. Vid. Selsk. Skr., Trondhj., 
1883, p. 15; Mob., Hcke, Fisch. Osts., p. 65; JoriD., Gilb., 
Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 16, p. 393; Lillj., So., Norg. 
Fisk., vol. I, p. 363. 
Gasterosteus occidental's, Cuv., Val., 1. o., p. 509. Gast. dekayi 
+ G. nebulosus, Ag., Lake Superior , pp. 310 et 311. Gast. 
concinnus, Rich., Fn. Bor. Amer ., p. 57. Gast. mainensis , 
Storer, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist., vol. I, p. 464. Gasterosteus 
pungitius+G. bur gundi anus -f G. Iceuis (ex Cuvier, Regn. 
Anim., ed. 2, tom. II, p. 170) + G. lotharingus + G. breviceps, 
Blanch., Poiss. d. eaux douces Fr., pp. 238, cett. ; Gasterostea 
pungitia + G. burguncliana + G. occidentalis + G. dekayi + G. 
blanchardi + G. mainensis + G. Icevis + G. lotharinga + G. 
breviceps +G. concinna+G. globiceps, Sauvage, Nouv. Arch. 
Mus. d’Hist. Nat. Par., tom X, pp. 29, cett. 
Obs. As appears from this list of synonyms, it has also been 
proposed to base a number of independent species on the variations of 
the Ten-spined Stickleback. The lack of constancy is, however, just 
as great here as in the preceding species; and to judge by our present 
knowledge of the forms, only the East Asiatic variety ( Gasterosteus 
sinensis, Guiciienot, see above), with its fully-plated lateral line and 
its large, comparatively few spinous rays on the back, which are equal 
in length to the diameter of the eyes or still longer, deserves to be 
especially distinguished as an intermediate form between this species 
and the Three-spined Stickleback. 
The Ten-spined Stickleback is the smallest fresh- 
water fish of Europe. Its ordinary length when full- 
grown is about 5 or 6 cm. Lilljeborg, however, speaks 
of specimens 81 mm. long from the moats of Upsala 
Castle. In form it is usually shallower (more elongated) 
and more terete than the preceding species, the depth 
of the body at the insertions of the ventral tins being 
on an average * 6 about 18 % of its length (as compared 
with 20 % in the preceding species), and the breadth 
straight across the upward lateral processes of the pelvic 
bones on an average 58 — 62 % of the said depth (as 
compared with 52 — 51 % in the preceding species). But 
in this respect no constant difference can be traced, and 
the largest specimens of the Ten-spined Stickleback as 
a rule come nearer and nearer the Three-spined species. 
The Ten-spined Stickleback is generally without 
any external trace of plate-armour on the sides of the- 
body; but in most cases the lateral line is raised on 
the sides of the tail in the form of a carina, rendering 
the breadth of the peduncle of the tail considerably 
greater than its depth, and now and then showing plate- 
like ossifications in the skin. But quite as frequently 
this carina is really membranous, and sometimes hardly 
a trace of it is visible, the base of the caudal fin thus 
acquiring a terete appearance. Especially in the south- 
ern parts of the geographical range of the Ten-spined 
Stickleback this last form seems to be the commonest 
one, and it has been described by Cuvier under the 
name of Gasterosteus Icevis. The plates at the dorsal 
margin and along the base of the anal fin are hidden 
in the skin; but the former are more concave on the 
upper surface than in the preceding species, thus form- 
ing a groove both deeper and broader, into which the 
spinous dorsal rays may be depressed. In number these 
spinous rays vary within the limits given above — 
“ Abnormal specimens with only 2 or 4 free spinous rays on the back are mentioned by Day (1. c.). 
6 In our specimens, which are between 38 and 60 mm. in leDgth. 
