122 Ctenoid Acanthofteees. FISHES. Sclerogenids. 
are firm and wholesome fish, and are more or less 
common in our markets. Also we reckon among the 
British fish the Mailed Gurnard {Peristedion malar- 
mat) ; the Miller’s Thumb {Cottus gobio) ; the Sea- 
scorpion or Sutor {Acanthocottus scorpius) ; the Father 
Lasher {Cottus bubalis) ; the Horned Bullhead {Acan- 
thocoltus quadricornis) ; the Kaniok {Acanthocottus 
grosnlandicus) ; the Poggie or Lyrie {Aspidophorus 
europceus) ; the Bergylt {Sebastes norvegicus) ; the 
Rough-tailed Stickleback {Gasterosteus trachurus) ; 
the Half-mailed Stickleback {GoMerosteus semiar- 
matus) ; the Smooth-tailed Stickleback {Gasterosteus 
leiurus) ; the Short-spined Stickleback {Gasterosteus 
brachycentrus) \ the Four-spined Stickleback {Gaste- 
rosteus spinuloms) ; the Tinker {Gasterosteus pungi- 
tms) ; and the Bismore {Gasterosteus spinachia). 
The Gurnards are remarkable for producing sounds 
by some meohanism which has not been clearly de- 
monstrated. The fact, however, has long been known 
to fishermen, and has been productive of various 
speculations by physiologists. Many of the local 
names of the species have reference to the sounds 
they produce when in the act of being drawn from the 
sea. The Prionotus pilatus is called “ Pig-fish” on 
the coasts of New Jersey, because of its loud croaking 
or barking as it is drawn to the shore in a seine. Mr. 
Spencer Baird, secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion, who had an opportunity of witnessing the phe- 
nomenon, thought the sounds were produced in the 
belly of the fish. Dr. Davy has discovered flat grind- 
ing teeth in the oesophagus of the Red Gurnard. 
By the great size of the pectoral fins the species of 
dactylopterus, called at Barbadoes the “Guinea-man” 
— (Plate 7, fig. 37) — are able to rise from the water and 
fly through the air like the Exocceti or Flying-fishes 
already mentioned. With such force does the Dacty- 
lopterus pursue its flight, that it will spring upon the 
deck of a ship of war ; and it has been known to strike 
a sailor on the forehead in its flight and knock him 
down. In the clear waters of the Bocca Tigris, off 
Trinidad, great sculls of these fish may be seen near 
the bottom, perpetually fluttering their large wing-like 
pectorals. Synanceia horrida is the Ikan-swangi or 
Sorcerer-fish of the Malays, and Synanceia bracliio is 
the abhorred Fi-fi of the negroes of the Mauritius. 
The Sticklebacks or Benticles abound in the fresh- 
water ponds and streams of Europe and North Ame- 
rica, and multiply to such a degree that they are taken 
by cart-loads for the purpose of manuring the land. 
Some species inhabit the sea or fresh-water indiffer- 
ently, and they flourish far within the arctic circle. 
In the Catalogue of Fishes in the British Museum, 
formed by Dr. Albert Gunther in 1859, the Stickle- 
backs form a proper family named Gasterosteidm. 
Many fishes, having deposited their eggs in suitable 
places, visit them no more, and evince no traces of 
parental instinct ; but this is not true of all, and both 
ancient and modern observers have recorded instances 
of the boldness and pertinacity with which certain fishes 
defend their progeny. The action of this instinct in 
the Sticklebacks has attracted attention of late years; 
and as these small fishes breed readily in glazed vivaria, 
the principal facts have been verified by several ichthy- 
ologists. Mr. Thomas Crookenden published Obser- 
vations on the Nidification of the Stickleback in the 
“Youth’s Instructor” for 1834. Signore Costa and M. 
Lecoq watched the proceedings of these fish in the 
Mediterranean in 1846, and sent accounts of what they 
saw to the Academie des Sciences, since published 
in Wiegman’s “Archiven fiir Naturgeschichte,” and 
in D’Orbigny’s “ Dictionnaire d’Histoire Naturelle.” 
Albany Hancock, Esq., read a paper on the same sub- 
ject before the Tyneside Naturalists’ Field Club, and 
Messrs. R. Q. Couch, Kinahan, and Warrington sent 
interesting accounts of their observations to the 
“Zoologist” for 1852-54. 
All the Sticklebacks, whether they are inhabitants 
of fresh or salt water, make nests for their eggs, and 
the methods the different species pursue do not differ 
much ; though some species give a preference to one 
situation, others to another. The Rough and Smooth- 
tailed Sticklebacks, for instance, prefer a muddy or 
sandy foundation, while the Tinker and Bismore select 
a niche among the leaves or branches of water plants. 
Some species make a nest resembling a mole-hill in 
form ; others construct one like a muff, open at the 
two ends. Signore Costa is the authority we chiefly 
follow in giving the ensuing details. The work of 
nidification is performed solely by the male Stickle- 
back, the female taking no part in the labour; and 
when the spawning season arrives, the male fish, having 
assumed a brilliant nuptial lustre, shows extraordinary 
activity in securing a site for his edifice, and trans- 
porting the building materials thither. These are 
fragments of plants of all kinds within his reach, which 
he often seeks at a distance and brings home in his 
mouth. He arranges them so as to form a kind of 
carpet-work, but as there is some danger of the current 
carrying away the light materials, he brings sand to 
weigh them down and keep them in their places. 
Then having entwined them with his mouth to his 
satisfaction, he slides gently over them on his belly, 
with a vibratory motion of the body, and glues them 
together with the mucus that exudes through his pores. 
Having in this manner firmly established the floor of 
his edifice, he seeks somewhat more solid materials for 
the walls, sometimes bits of wood, sometimes pieces 
of straw, which he always seizes with his mouth, and 
lays either on the surface of the floor or sticks into its 
sides, withdrawing them and thrusting them in anew 
until he is satisfied ; or if he cannot adapt a piece 
properly to his building, he carries it to some distance 
from the nest and rejects it. After the side walls 
are raised, the tiny architect proceeds to throw over 
the chamber a roof of the same materials with the 
floor ; and to give firmness to the whole structure, he 
again and again creeps over it, and by the rapid action 
of his fins, and the vibratory movements of his tail, 
fans out the light and useless particles. In carrying 
on his building operations he takes care to preserve 
a circular opening into the chamber, often thrusting in 
his head and great part of his body, widening and con- 
solidating it so as to render it a fit receptacle for the 
female, whose belly is distended with eggs. When 
choosing building material, the fish has been seen 
trying its specific gravity, by letting it sink once or 
