ABOUT STICKLEBACKS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2007, 11 August 1892, Page 39

ABOUT STICKLEBACKS.

The rivers and streams of England and Ireland teem with fish of various kinds, from the salmon to the minnow ; yet I doubt if any species affords such amusement anU is such an object of interest to the btudent of Nature as the homely stickleback. They are everywhere to be found in rivers, ponds, and streams, and even have their cousins in the sea itself. If you like to study the habits of these hardy little creatures, which are ever so much more interesting and quite as pretty as the gold and diver fish which some time ago were so much sought after, any naturalist will procure them for you, or, better still, if you live in tho country, you can catch them for yourself in almost every stream or piece of water of any description.

The writer has kept them himself for many years, and never tires of watching their pretty gambols. For the benefit of those who are not acquainted with the appearance of this little fish, I will give a short despription of it. The common stickleback rarely exceeds two and a- half or three inches in length, and is in winter of an olive colour above and a silvery white beneath. This colour is retained by the female all the year round. In the male, however, in the spawning season it changes to a mingled blue and green above and a bright red underneath, extending from the gills, which are the reddest part, backwards for a short distance. Tho eyes of the male also turn from their natural dark colour to a pale blue. Altogether, it would be hard to find anywhere a prettier little fish than the stickleback at this time. In both male and female are found the little spines on the back, which in the common kind number three. But in some varieties, a specimen of which I have caught, the number of these spines is 10. These, however, are smaller than those of their more common brethren ; and indeed the little fish themselves rarely exceeds twothirds of the length of the common variety. They are, as a rule, aho darker in colour. Another species, the 15-spined stickleback, almost exclusively inhabits the sea. These are the largest kind, being from four to six inches in length.

The natural food of the eticklebask conpisfcs of worms and water insects, o£ which it can consume a great number; but if very hungry it will eat bread and attack and try to feed upon almost anything that comes in its way. Their favourite haunt is under the hollow bank of some small stream ; and they especially love a shady place, where the le3ser roots of some tree have grown through the overhanging bank dowu to the bottom of the water; here they find shelter and conceal themselves, except in the spawning time, when they resort to the larger ponds, where the water is nearly still.

The egga of this fish when laid are of a globular form, about the size of the head of an ordinary pin, and are generally in a clump, which closely resembles a piece of colourless and transparent jelly dotted over with minute black spots. The sticklebacks when first caught and put into a tub or vessel of some sort, swim in a compact sboal, as if exploring their new domain ; but soon, if the vessel is large enough, one little fellow will take possession of a particular corner, and woe to any of his neighbours who should venture too near the boundaries of what he considers his property | His example is, if space permit, followed, and the tub is soon divided into separate bouses, as it were. One perhaps prefers a shell and its neighbour'

hood for his abode; another, a clump of weeds ; another, a little gravelly oorner ; and so on. But the owner of the shell strongly resists the trespass of his weedy or gravelly neighbour, and vice versa. Kven the females are sometimes attacked, but, as far as I know, never retaliate or try to fight with the males. However, a tract in the centre is left untenanted, and forms the meeting and feeding ground of the assembly.

The sticklebacks become more interesting towards the beginning of the summer, which is the Bpawning-time, when the gills and under part of the head of the male turn to a brilliant red. They are at this season very pugnacious and revengeful ; sometimes the fights in which they are always engaged are over after a pick or two; but I have known a battle of this kind between two particular males continue off and on for days. One of the most curious facts about these little fishes is that after a fight the colour of the gills of the victor becomes if possible a more vivid red, while in the case of the vanquished it pales off to a shade of pink. The males generally fight among themselves until the supremacy of one has been acknowledged. This hero may be easily recognised, even by a person not intimately acquainted with their habits, by the beautiful blue and green shades on his back and Bides being far more brilliant ard varied than those of his companions, as well as by the similar pre-eminence of the colour of his gills. He is by far the most handsome of the whole community, and he seems to know it, and " bosses the show " with all the pleasure in life.

But the subjects of this monarch are not always as obedient as he would have them ; so there are sometimes fights, and although h«j may in the first few battles sustain his reputation, it is not unlikely that he will ultimately be overthrown, and a new despot take his place. The happy winner is not, however, allowed to reign in peace or retain long his seat of office ; but in his turn is deposed, and compelled to take up a second or even third rate place. The fights of these little animals ought to be enough to satisfy the most exacting lover of novelty. They are conducted in many different ways, one of the chief being an irregular guerilla-like warfare, in which every advantage is taken of the nature of the ground, of shells, weeds, and stones. ; I have seen a male stickleback remain in ambush among some green weeds until his rival all unsuspectingly swam slowly up near his hiding-place, and then, suddenly dash out and catch the other by the tail, or else strike him with all his foice on the side. Sometimes the victim of this clever scheme would see the trap laid for him in time, and would go past, metaphorically, with colours flying, and swim with such speed that his enemy would miss his chance. At other times he would adroitly avoid the on&laught of his antagonist, and quickly turning, be lost to view in the weeds which had lately sheltered his opponent, there, in his turn, to lie in wait for another, or perhaps the same rival. I have also seen these cunning little fellows take advantage of a shell which had been placed in with them, and conceal themselves in or behind it till the moment for action should arrive.

But that is only a specimen of one, perhaps the chief, of their ways of fighting ; if they are placed in a globe without any means of concealment, they will attack one another openly. One will make a dart across the entire breadth of the globe, and if his intended victim is quick enough, gets nothing for his pains but a sharp rap against the opposite side of the glass. Nothing daunted, however, he will turn and chase the other hither and thither round the whole area, striking him whenever and wherever he can, and will continue to do so until he is tired, or until he is himself forced to flee. They will not only fight with their own species, but if a minnow be placed with them, they will attack it with common consent, using both their mouths and spines, and will pursue it so vindictively, that soon the minnow will sink to the bottom, half -torn to pieces and in a dying condition. In fact, they are perfect Ishmaels in their way of indiscriminately attacking any fish which is placed with them.

The stickleback not only uses his mouth and spines as weapons of offence, but is also provided with some means of defence. These consist of the hard bony substance which underlies the body from the gills to the stomach, and forma a veritable breastplate of lateral plates, which in the common stickleback extend about half-way down the body, but in some varieties reach the tail ; and of two little spines, which, when not in active uso, lie along the sides. These, however, when their owner is attacked stand out quite rigidly, [and are an effective piece of defensive armour. These spines are found both in the male and female, and closely resemble those on the back, except that they seem to be lined with red. This red is not noticeable when they are at rest, but is at once seen when they engage in battle or dart at an insect.

The colour of the female stickleback is the same all the year round, and the only spot of bright colouring about her is the red lining of these defensive spines. The stickleback is very voracious, and it is amusing to see them attack and swallow the worms which are thrown to them. I have seen one little fellow devour a worm as large as himself, and swim about afterwards seeming nothing the worse for it. Perhaps the funni.ist sit-ht of all is a little stickleback who has tried to swallow a worm which is too large for him, and who swims about with the tail of the said worm sticking out a quarter of an inch in front of him. Another soon tries to get the worm for himself, and then another ; so that in a short time either the first possessor will have to disgorge the tempting morsel or else run the ohanca of being half pulled to pieces ; and I have often found, on coming down in the morning, one of the pluckiest of the little fellows lying stiff and stark at the bottom of the water with all its spine 3 erect, and with its mouth held open by a halfswallowed piece of worm which had choked it. Onoe when I had rather a large number I discovered that they wore disappearing faster than their voracity and pugnacious proolivities could account" for. On keeping watch one day, I found that a peb jackdaw of mine, after making sure that the coast was clear, had got up on the edge of the tab and was deliberately waiting to see if any of the little fishes should oome to the top of the water, Soon one did QQoae up, and then the

jackdaw, with a quick dart of his beak, picked him out of the water and hopped off. I found out afterwards that he ate them ; though bow he managed to do so Bpines and all I can't comprehend. After that I took summary measures to prevent tho further diminution of my stock. Sticklebacks build a pretty nest, in which the female lays the eggs, while the male keeps the tract of water — which, I suppose, he regards as his rightful domain — free from all would-be intruders, whom nothing would delight so much as a feast of tho eggs of their neighbour. Unhappily my sticklebacks have never built a nest ; lam not sure that they will do so in captivity — so I cannot give a detailed account of their manner of constructing it.— Chambers'Journal. THE "RED-EATER'S'MTALE. The following is a literary editor's adventure told by Mr Melville Philips in a late number of Lippencott's : — "Vastly did I relish, for instance, a trifling event which disturbed the routine of my work late one December afternoon several years ago. "I was writing notices of some belated holiday books in my den on the top floor of the building, when a fluttering rap on the half-open door drew my attention to a largeeyed child about eight years old, who wasn't pretty, and who hadn't golden hair, but who stood there in a Bhabby, clean calico frock, cool as a cucumber. " ' No, thank you,' said I, briskly. •No matches to-day.' •"Matches I ' said she, with exquisite scorn ; « I ain't got any matches. Where's the red-eater ? ' " I told her that the red- eater-in-chief had gone home, but that a choice assortment of auxiliaries were at hand, and which one would she have ? « The one that buys the stcrieF,' said she, and I begged her to bo seated until I finished the work before me. When presently I looked up she was lolling over tha table in mute rapture over the highly-coloured pictures in a Christmas story book. " ' Now, 1 said I, with a difficult assumption of dignity, • what is your business with the red-eater 1 ' " She ignored me completely, closed the gorgeous volume with a sigh, and asked, in a whisper, • Is he awful cross ? ' " • Cross 7 ' said I ; • well, you wait till you meet him.' " She was not in the least cast down by this; but I fancied she was pitying me immensely. ' I wouldn't work for him if I was you,' she said, plainly taking me for the fiery red-eater's office boy, ' Does he like you? ' " • A little.' " ' Would he buy a story from you ? ' " • Perhaps.' "'Well, now,' confidingly, 'see here, I'll tell you what : you get him to buy this story I've wrote, an' when he pays you we'll divide. I ain't told pap or anybody 'bout writin' it, but it's awful good — the first I've wrote. Will you do itj?' "Til try.' Then 'half reluctantly she handed me the precious dirty roll of notepaper and fled noiselessly down the stairs. " It was a wonderful bit of fiction— shreds and patches of Sunday school stories pieced together by the childish imagination into a dolorous tale of a shipwrecked parent returning to his impoverished family on Christmas Eve, in thfl character of Santa Olaue. The whole melancholy narrative, a column in length, was told in two expansive sentences, of marvellous punctuation and delightful orthography. But it moved me Btrangely, and I sat down right there at my desk and wrote an introduction to it, and then sent it into the composing-room marked • Follow copy.' So it appeared as our Christmas story, gaily illustrated, with the name of the author conspicuously flaunted in the head-line, and the managing editor agreed with me that it was dirt cheap at lOdol. "On the day before Christmas the largeeyed child stole again into my den, and touched me on the elbow. " • Well 1 ' she asked, to all appearances still as cool as a cucumber. <What'd he say?' ii • why,' said I, 'he wants to know how much you ask for your novel.'- " She was • stumped ' ; she wagged her little head and stared hard at me, with an incipient cupidity peeping plainly from her eyes. " ' Is he mean 1 ' she demanded. " The red-eater, I assured her, was not a stingy man. "•Well, then,' with a frightened look, 1 fifty cents ; that's twenty - five for yon,' she added, apologetically, • and twenty-fiva for me.' " ' I placed the ten-dollar note in her hand and picked up my pen. • That's yours,' said I, 'if jou promise not do it again.' "Fora minute she was speechless; then, • What's thi3 for 1 ' she asked. " • Your Christmas fetory.' " ' Who give it to me 7 ' " ' I did? " ' Who are you ? • " ' The red-eater.' " ' You 1 1 ' "There was more than disappointment in her tone ; there was distinctly doubt and scorn in it. Then she went sideways out of the room, no longer as cool as a cucumber, but eyeing mo suspiciously. As a matter of fact, I felt hurt."