180 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
nets). For this purpose old, discarded Perch-nets, 
Roach-nets etc. are used. It is also taken with tackle 
called pimpeldon, which consists of a bright piece of 
tin as long as one’s finger, to the lower end of which 
four hooks are fastened in a cross. This is attached 
to a line which is sunk to the bottom and plucked up 
and down without a stop, as in bobbing (pimplande) I 
for Herrings. This fish is also speared with small 
leisters by torchlight, and sometimes taken in nets or 
seines shot for other fishes. 
The Four-horned Cottus is considered the most 
eatable of the whole genus. Though the flesh has a 
peculiar smell, which is not agreeable to all tastes, it 
loses this when rightly prepared, and acquires a fairly 
pleasant flavour. The liver is held in the highest 
esteem. In Stockholm this fish is regarded by many 
as a great delicacy. It therefore often appears in the 
market. It is then always skinned, and the head re- 
moved. Sundevall calculated the annual value of this 
fishery between 1850 and 1860 at about 2,000 Swe- 
dish crowns (<£1 10). In this estimate, however, the 
Sea Scorpion is also included. 
(Ekstrom, Smitt.) 
THE SEA SCORPION OR SHORT-SPINED COTTUS ( sw. rotsimpan). 
COTTUS SCORPIOS. 
(Plate VIII, figs. 2 and 3). 
Top of the head ■ with, spines and ridges. Preopercular margin with 3 or 4 spines. Lateral line without spines , 
generally with a very distinct , downward curve at the end of the second dorsal fin. Length of the maxillary 
bones generally greater in the female than in the male (at least after the time when the external difference of sex 
appears) and varying between 47 and 58 % of the base of the second dorsal fin: the length of the lower jaw , 
which differs in the same way according to sex , varying between 57 and 68 % of the base of the same fin. Least 
depth of the tail more than 4 1 / 2 % of the length of the body, and varying between 24 and 33 % of the, base of 
the anal fin. Margins of the branchiostegal membranes united by a free dermal fold across the isthmus. No 
dermal fringes on the maxillary bones. Number of rays in the second dorsal fin generally more than 14, in the 
anal fin generally more than 11. 
R. hr. 6; D. 9“— 1 1 114 6 — 17; A. 1 1 — 1 4 ; P. 1 6 — 1 8 ; 
V. '/ 3 ; C. x + 7 — 9+ L. lat. por. 37 — 43. 
Syn. Cottus alepidotus; capite polyacantho; maxilla superiore paullo 
longiore, Art., Gen. Pise., p. 49; Syn., p. 77; Spec., p. 
86 . 
Cottus Scorpcena, Lin., Mils. Ad. Frid., vol. I, p. 70. 
Cottus Scorpius , Lin., Syst. Nat., ed. X, tom. I, p. 265; Fit. 
Suec., ed, II, p. 115; Fabr., Fn. Groenl., p. 156; Retz., Fn. 
Suec. Lin., p. 328; Pall., Zoogr. Ross. Asiat., vol. Ill, 
p. 130; Cuv., Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss., vol. IV, p. 160; 
Ekstr., Vet.-Akad. Hand]. 1831, p. 312; Nilss., Prodr. 
Ichth. Scand., p. 96; Fries, Ekstr., Wright, SIcand. Fisk., 
ed. I, p. 23, tab. 5; Ivrgy., Damn. Fislce, vol. I, pp. 130 
et 583; Nilss., Skand. Fn., Fisk., p. 68; Gthr, Cat. Brit. 
Mas., Fish., vol. II, p. 159; Mgrn, Fird. Fisk., p. 6; 
Spbg. Fisk., Ofvers. Vet.-Akad. Fork. 1864, p. 495; Lindstr., 
Gotl. Fisk,, Gotl. L. Hush. Sallsk. Arsber. 1866, p. 14 
(sep.) ; Coll., Vid. Selsk. Forh. Christ. 1874, Tillaagsh., p. 
24; Ltkn, Vid. Meddel. Naturh. For. Kblrvn 1876, p. 370; 
Malm, Ghgs, Boh. Fn., p. 388; Winth., ZooI. Dan., Fislce, 
p. 8, tab. II, fig. 1 et 2 ; Naturh. Tidskr. Ivbhvn, ser. Ill, 
vol. XII, p. 9; Coll., Norsk. Nordh. Exped., Zook, Fisk., p. 
25; Day, Fish. G:t Brit., Irel., vol. I, p. 49, tab. XIX, fig. 
1, tab. XX, fig. 1; Lillj., Sv., Nnrg. Fisk., vol. I, p. 135; 
Moreau, Hist. Nat. Poiss., Fr., vol. II, p. 298; Mob., Hcke, 
Fiscli. d. Ostsee, p. 43; Jord., Gilb., Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 
No. 16, p. 702. 
Cottus groenlandicus, Cuv., Val., 1. c., p. 185; Richards, Fn. 
Bor. Amer., pt. Ill, pp. 46 et 297, tab. 95, fig. 2; Dek., 
N. Y. Fn., Fish., pt. IV, p. 54, tab. IV, fig. 10; Gthr, 
1. c., p. 161; Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad., 1872, p. 
213; Jord., Gilb. (subsp.) 1. c., p. 703. 
Cottus porosus, Cuv., Val., 1. c. vol. VIII, p. 498; Cottus 
( Acanthocottus ) variabilis (Ayres), labracloricus (Girard), 
ocellatus, Storer, Journ. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. vol. VI, pp. 
248 et 253. Cottus glacialis, Richards., Vog. Belcher, 
vol. IE, p. 349, tab. 24. De his synon. vide Mgrn, 1. c. 
a Sometimes 7 or 8, according to Lutken. 
b Sometimes 13 or even as many as 19, according to Lutken. 
c Sometimes only 9, according to Day, or 10, according to Lutken; sometimes 15, according to the latter. 
d Only once have 15 been found, according to Lutken. Nilsson, however, gives from 15 to 17. 
