C O T T U S. g6 7 
flattened, but the animal can fwell them out, and pro- jaws of equal length, armed with feveral rows of fliarp 
trude the bones and fpines when attacked : the opercula teeth ; the tongue is griftly, thick, broad, and fmootli; 
of the gills confift of two plates ; their aperture is broad, in front of the palate there is a bone with forne fmall 
and tlie membrane has large bony rays; the head and teeth upon it: tire noftrils are Angle, cylinder-fhaped, 
back are dark brown, with many prickles and black and very near the eyes; at the fides of the lower jaw 
fpots; the body goes tapering towards .the tail, and in- are feveral furrows or wrinkles, and in the middle two 
head of feales is covered with little fliarp turbercles, fmall prickles ; the jaw-bone is terminated by three 
which make it rough to the touch : thefe turbercles. are prickles, and the covert of the gills by two : the pupil 
not fo large in the females as in the males ; fo that they of the eye is black, the iris yellowifli ; the cheeks are 
may be handled with lef's inconvenience : the tides are brown ; the coverts of the gills reddifh : the body is 
flattened; they are brown above the lateral line, and long, and laterally coinprefled in a fmall degree ; on the 
marbled with white below it; the belly is large, broad, lateral line, which is flrait, near the back, and parallel 
white in the females, yellow with white fpots in the with it, are fome longith dots; the back is brown ; tire 
males; Tonning deferibts them with a belly fo yellow fides yellowifli ; the belly grey, broad, and prominent: 
as to lhine like gold. In the males the peCtoral fins are inftead of feales, the body is covered with tubercles, 
larger alfo than in the females, fo that the fexes may which are rough and of the confidence of horn ; the big- 
eafily be diftinguilhed at firft fight: the rays of the pec- geft of them form a row which extends as far as the firft 
toral fins are fofr at the ends, and of an orunce-colour : dorfal fin ; and thence to the middle of the fecond there 
the ventrals are long ; the tail round ; they are all flriped 
with black and white in the females ; but in the males 
the ventral fins are red, fpotted with white, the rays 
are Ample, except thofe of the tail, which are forked. 
This fpecies is found in the Baltic, and in the northern 
and American feas, efpecially on the coafts of Green¬ 
land, Newfoundland, and Siberia : at Newfoundland they 
call it fcolping. They remain at the bottom in fhoals, 
and rife to the furface only when prefled by hunger in 
fearch of prey. At Rugenwald they are called feemurre 
or kurrhan , words which feem to exprefs the found they 
make when preffed by the hand ; at which time they 
will open the mouth fo wide as even to tear it, fpread 
out their fins, and make a tremulous motion within the 
hand; but this found and tremulous motion only arife 
from the fifh’s fhrinking his body to retire from the 
touch ; it cannot be repeated unlefs the fifh be put into 
the water and taken out again. The fatlier-lafher fwims 
with great rapidity, in which he is aflifted by the large 
fize of the peCtoral fins. With us it feldom grows 
much more th: n fix inches long ; in Germany and Pruflia 
a foot; but in Norway they are faid to meafure feven 
feet. This fifh is not eaten in Germany ; they give them 
to the hogs; perhaps they are falfely accounted veno¬ 
mous, becaufe their fpines have fometimes inflicted a 
dangerous wound. In Denmark, where it is reckoned 
hard of digeftion, only the poor eat of it; yet the flefli is 
reckoned efficacious againfl difeafes of tine urinary paf- 
iages. In Norway they only ufe the liver, with which 
they make oil. The Greenlanders, on the contrary, 
think it very good, and give it to fick people as a very 
wholefome nourilhment; they eat it boiled, dried, and 
even raw ; they alfo eat the ova. Hence we may fee 
how the prejudices and taftes of nations vary. In fpring 
they feek the ihores ; but in winter they lie in the depths 
of the fea. They are lively and bold ; but their rapa¬ 
city fometimes renders them imprudent; fo that they 
eafily take a bait. They are very ravenous, and will 
even kill fifh larger than themfelves; they particularly 
follow the blenny, the young falmon, and the herring ; 
in general, they fpare nothing that comes in their way, 
and will even eat the mailed crab. They may be eafily 
taken with haddock and other fea-filh, as they will fol¬ 
low them into (he net. They fpawn in December and 
January, depofiting their ova among the herb alkanet. 
There are ten ribs on each fide the belly, and thirty- 
fix veriebrse in all, according to Bloch; Cepede fays 
twenty-five. 
2. Cottus quadricornus, the four-horned bullhead, or 
fea-bull: the four ofleous eminences on the head, formed 
like warts or tubercles, form the fpecific character of 
this fifh ; one of them is placed near each eye, and two 
on the back of the head : there are fix rays in the gill- 
membrane, fixteen in the peCtoral fin, four in the ven¬ 
tral, fourteen in the anal, ten in the tail, eighteen in the 
firfl dorfal, and fourteen in the fecond. The head is 
large, and flattened underneath y the mouth wide j the 
, is a double row, whence there is a Angle row tq the tail- 
fin; the fides are furnifhed with fmall excrefcences of 
the fame kind : the fins are large ; the rays of them (tick 
out, are white, fingle, and full of the fame warts ; the 
rays of the tail-fin only are forked : the connecting mem¬ 
brane is grey, edged with black ; and that of the pecto¬ 
rals lias black crefcent-fhaped fpots at the extremity : 
the ventral fins, and the firfl rays of the peCtorals, are red. 
This fpecies feems to have the fame haunts as the pre¬ 
ceding, efpecially in the Baltic fea, where it is found 
near the fliores, and the mouths of fome dreams where 
the fea-water is foftened by a mixture of frefli. It grows 
ten or twelve inches long, and fwims very fwiftly by 
means of its large fins. Many of them are caught in the 
fpring in the Duno in Livonia, and near Dalerow in 
Sweden. They are taken in nets; but, beinglean and 
hard, are eaten only by the poor; their principal ufe is 
as a bait for other fifh. They fpawn in December and 
January, depofiting their eggs, which are fmall and 
whitiih, among the weeds. They feed on fliell-fifii, fnails, 
and crabs ; and will, fometimes attack fifh of a confider- 
able fize. 
3. Cottus fcaber, the fcabrous bullhead ; fpecific cha¬ 
racter, the body covered with fmall hard feales, and the 
lateral line arnied with fpines : there are feven rays in 
the membrane of the gills, eighteen in the peCtoral fin, 
fix in the ventral, twelve in the anal, fixteen in the tail, 
eight in the firfl dorfal, and twelve in the fecond. Lin¬ 
naeus firfl made us acquainted with this fifh, and Bloch 
firfl gave a figure of it; the prickles on the head and 
along the lateral line, no doubt occafioned the name fca¬ 
ber. The head is oblong, flattened above and below, 
and armed with four rows of fpines : the mouth is wide, 
the under jaw is the longed ; Both are armed with fmall 
fharp teeth, fmooth and fixed ; the tongue is fmootli, 
broad, and thin ; there are fome rough ferrated bones in 
the palate : the eyes are near the top of the head, ob¬ 
long, and pretty clofe to each other; the pupil is black, 
iris filvery : the gill-covert confids of two laminae, with 
a wide aperture ; the membrane half concealed, lying 
almod under the throat: the body is rather o£ a coni¬ 
cal form, the belly convex, and the tail compreffed : the 
back is of a bluifh colour; the fides and belly filvery : 
the feales are fmall, hard, ferrated, and firmly fixed'in 
the fkin : fix dripes of reddilh-brown encircle tire body, 
which gives the fifh a very handfome appearance : the. 
peCtoral fins are fhort and broad ; their ground-colour is 
yellow, but the rays are variegated, and forked at the 
extremities: the ventrals are long, Bluifh, with yellow 
dripes, and branched rays : the firfl dorfal fin is purple, 
the rays fimple and fliarp : the other fins are bluifh, with 
variegated rays, bifurcated at the ends. It is found in 
the Eafi Indies; and from the form of its teeth, whiefi 
are like a grater or ralp, it may be prelumed to feed oa. 
lobders, crabs, and fnails. 
4. Cottus cataphraClus, the armed bullhead, orpogge. 
The octagonal drape of the body is the fpecific character, 
ofs 
