660 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
In the first three relations the development has ad- 
vanced in the same direction from pungitius both to 
aculeatus and to spinachia — in each case, except the 
second, furthest in the last species — , but in the fourth 
spinacliia has retained the most primitive character of 
the Sticklebacks. In the last five relations spinacliia 
is the nearer to pungitius, and stands in each case, 
except the sixth, on the opposite side to aculeatus. 
The direction of development is fixed in aculeatus by 
the female, in spinachia by the male characters. 
The coloration of this species is quite as varied as 
that of the preceding one, and is affected by the differ- 
ent seasons of the year, the different moods of the fish, 
and the different bottoms and lights of the water in 
which the fish lives. Here too, we find darker (Plate 
XXVIII, fig. 4) and lighter forms. In winter the upper 
part of the head and the back are of a bluish drab, and 
the sides silvery white, with extremely fine, dark dots. 
In summer, on the other hand, the head and the upper 
part of the whole body are of a marked olive-green. 
The lower part of the body is now light green, with a 
dash of brassy yellow, which shades more into red 
under the head and at the bases of the pectoral fins. 
The whole body is thickly strewn with distinct, black 
dots. It is this dress which is depicted in Plate XXVIII, 
fig. 3, painted from a large specimen, a female taken 
in the neighbourhood of Haparanda in June, 1832. 
During the spawning-season the males are black on the 
sides of the belly. 
The Ten-spined Stickleback has the same geogra- 
phical range as the Three-spined species, but in Europe 
does not penetrate so far south. Moreau sets the south- 
ern limit for the range of the Ten-spined Stickleback in 
France at hit. 45° N. According to Fatio this species 
is wanting in Switzerland. Heckel and Kner do not 
include it among the fishes of the Austrian Empire. It 
is also unknown in Italy (Canesthini, Giglioli); but it j 
occurs in the Black Sea, according to Pallas, and Nord- 
mann“ says that it is found in several streams in the 
south of Russia. On the other hand, its occurrence in 
Greenland and Iceland is uncertain. Neither Reinhardt 
nor Lutken includes it in their lists of the fishes of Green- 
land, though Hansen says that it lives there; and Faber 
had never seen it in Iceland. Richardson’s concinnus 
belonged, however, to the extreme north of North Ame- 
“ Demid off’s Travels, tom. Ill, p. 382. 
* Cat. Collect. Fish. U. X’. Nat. Mus., Gt. Intern. Fisher. Exhib. 
c See Ransom, Ann., Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 3, vol. XVI, p. 449. 
rica (Saskatchewan and Great Bear Lake) and, Pallas 
knew the species from Siberia and the Sea of Okhotsk. 
The Vega. Expedition found it together with small Three- 
spined Sticklebacks, as we have mentioned, on Behring 
Island. Bean 6 assigns it to Alaska ; and it was already 
known to Cuvier from Newfoundland ( occidentolis ). 
In Scandinavia the Ten-spined Stickleback is com- 
mon from the extreme north to the southernmost pro- 
vinces, both in most of the Swedish lakes and streams 
and on the Baltic coast. In Norway, according to Col- 
lett, its occurrence is only sporadic and confined to 
fresh and brackish water. 
The habits of this species are essentially the same 
as those of the preceding one. It prefers clear, running 
wafer. It is sociable, and therefore lives collected in 
large shoals during the greater part of the year. It also 
joins company with the Three-spined Stickleback, when 
the latter sets out on its autumn wanderings. In tem- 
perament it seems to be very sluggish, but can move 
with great rapidity. Its food consists of worms, insects, 
fish-roe, and bits of grass, which it devours with avi- 
dity. We often find this little fish, like its congener, 
very fat. 
The spawning-season generally occurs in June and 
July — according to Benecke even in April — when the 
fish makes its way to small brooks and rills, where 
during the spawning we find it packed in multitudes. 
Males and females are promiscuously assembled, and try 
to crowd as near to the grassy bank as possible. The 
roe is orange and, in comparison with the size of the 
fish, coarse, the eggs being about 1 mm. in diameter. 
It is deposited either on the grass or in a nest, for here 
as in the preceding species the male builds a shelter 
for the eggs until the exclusion of the fry 0 . As long 
as the spawning lasts, and as long as the male lias to 
defend the eggs, the fish is not at all timid, and suffers 
itself to be taken in the hand. 
The Ten-spined Stickleback, which in different lo- 
calities bears different names, e. g. benunge , signalling 
etc., is utilised in the same way as the Three-spined 
species. It is said to yield a finer oil. It is taken 
chiefly in November, when it collects in shoals together 
with the Three-spined Stickleback. 
(Ekstrom, Smitt.) 
London 1883, p. 19. 
