2 80 1 The Hiftory of ANIMA L S. 
of two rays each ; the anterior of thefe is large, aculeated, and ferrated at the edges; 
and the other, which has efcaped the obfervation of thofe who have examined this 
fifh, is fmall, fhort, white, and foft, and is, indeed, not very confpicuous: the pinna 
ani is whitifh, and has nine rays; the firft of thefe is very fhort, and is aculeated; the 
others are foft, long, and a little bifid at their extremities: the tail is oblong, and even 
at the end; it has twelve long rays, all which, except the two extream ones, are bifid 
at the ends. 
This little fifh is very frequent in our fhallow brooks and rivulets, and often in fifh- 
ponds; it’s fmallnefs makes it overlooked, but it is often the caufe of great mifchief; 
it is the moft voracious fifh in the world, and devours the young of valuable fifh, when 
firft hatched from the fpawn, in incredible quantities; it alfo feeds on the fpawn itfelf, 
and many a good breeding pond is fpoiled by it. All the writers on fifhes have defcribed 
it. The older Latin writers have called it Pugnitivus and Spinacha; the later ones, 
in general, Pifculus aculeatus; Aldrovand calls it Pugnitius pifcis * Rondelet, Pifciculi 
aculeati primum genus; Gefner, Pifciculus aculeatus, primum genus j Ray and Wil- 
lughby, fimply, Pifciculus aculeatus. The Swedes call it Skitfpig andSkitbar; and 
we, the Stickle-back and Banfticle. t , 
Gafterofteus aculeis in dorfto decern. IttCtt 
The G after oft eus^ with ten prickles on the back. 
People, in general, have confounded this with the former fpecies, and call both by 
the common name of the Stickle-back, fuppofing all of one kind 3 but this is not only 
confiantly fmaller than the other, but has it’s diftin&ive charaders as evident as any 
fpecies in the world. 
The head is large, in proportion to the body, and is of a fomewhat comprefied fi¬ 
gure : the lower jaw is a little longer than the upper; the jaws are both furnifhed with 
a number of very minute teeth, but the palate and the tongue are fmooth : the eyes 
are large, and their iris is of a greyifh colour: the noftrils have each only a fingle aper¬ 
ture ; the openings of the gills are large, and their coverings are compofed each of 
two large bones and the branchioftege membrane : the body is of a comprefied form, 
and the lateral line runs in a diredion parallel to the back, and is much nearer that 
than the belly j toward the tail this line rifes into a kind of fin-like prominence on 
each fide, as in the former fpecies, and gives the body a quadrangular figure. 
The breaft is covered with two bones, as in the former; and thefe are covered alfo 
with a mufcle, as in that fpecies, and the ftrudure of the armature of the beily is 
the fame as in that: the head of this is, however, longer than that of the other, 
and has nothing of that declivity from the eyes to the roftrum : the back of this 
fpecies is of a dufky grey, approaching to black, and is fpotted with large blotches of 
a deep black ; the fides are of a filvery white, and are alfo variegated with very mi¬ 
nute fpots of the fame black : the fides and belly appear perfedly fmooth, the naked 
eye being not able to diftinguifh the lead appearance of fcales on them : the prickles 
on the back and belly of this fifh, when ereded, are very difficultly deprefled, and 
they arife out of a kind of furrow : the exterior prickle of the ventral fins is lightly 
ferrated at the fides, and the membrane, which conneds thefe, is of a filvery white: 
there is but one fin on the back, and that has twenty rays, the nine or ten firft of 
which are prickly, robuft, and fhort, and are placed in an alternate order ; four on 
each fide turn outward, and the ninth is ered, and they are all of them affixed down 
to the back by a thin membrane in their lower part; the other eleven rays are foft and 
longer than thefe 5 the middle ones are bifid at their tops: the pinna ani has eleven 
rays, of which the firft only is prickly ; this is fhort and robuft, the reft are foft, and 
the middle ones are bifid at their extremities: the liver in this fpecies is very large, 
and of a flefh colour, and is divided into three lobes; two of thefe are fhort, but the 
third is very large, and reaches down on the right fide, almoft to the anus: the gall¬ 
bladder is fmall, and is affixed to the upper part of the longeft lobe : the heart is not 
fo large as a hempfeed ; it is of a triquetrous figure, with a plane bafe : the aorta is 
large and white; the fpleen is fmall, red, and obtufely triangular, and is fituated at 
the left fide of the ftomach : the ftomach is long and thick, and has no appendages; 
the inteftine is a little elevated above the pylorus, but from thence it tends ftraight down 
to the anus, and is all the way covered with fat: the air-bladder is large, thick, and 
fimple. 
