The Van Buren press., 1895-05-18
THE STICKLEBACk.
Little Fish That 10 Handsome, n Fight.
err, and That Builds Nests.

A Little Fish That 10 Handsome, n Fight.
err, and That Builds Nests.
The stickle back is very handsome
little fish, The under part of it's body
has the appearance of pearl, the upper
part looks like smoked pearl. Its fins
are delicate and gauzy. 1t is very
graceful in shape and a remarkably
quick swimmer. 1t is q most pugna'
cious little fish, and If occasion de.
mands, it will without hesitation at
tack a Ash five times its size. There
are many varieties of the stickleback,
which is found pretty much all over
the world. 1t lives in brackish ponds
and in salt water. The stickleb back k
varies in the number of its spines,
which range from two to fifteen.
The spines are very sharp-pointed,
bony projections, which the fish uses
for purposes of offense or defense. and
which it can erect at pleasure; when
lowered they lie lengthwise in "a little
gutter along the fish's back. The two
spined sticlleback is the one most
common in these waters, and it is also
the largest of the stickelbacks and the
hardest in captivity; it sometimes at
tains length of four or five inches.
Other sticklebacks vary in size at full
growth, some being not over one inch
long.
In captivity, sticklebacks are best
kept by themselves; in aquarian tanks
they are tyrants. Quick, agile and
fearless, they rob other fish of their
food. and are full of mischief general.
ly. There are two or three little stick
lebacks in the tank at the aquarium
with the decorating crab The decor
ating crab is a slow eater. 1t stands
up on it's hind legs ON the bottom OF
the tank holding it's food with one
claw and picking off from it with the
other claw bits which it conveys to its
mouth. When the fishes and crab in
this tank were fed the other day the
sticklebacks soon finished their por-
tions and then two of them tried to
rob the poor old decorator, who was
still soberly eating. One stickleback
approached first, near the crab, and
there poised for an instant, dag gonally,
| head downward in the water. 1t made a
dart for the crabs dinner, but missed
| 1t; the crab hung on to it, waving one
of it's legs in the water to warn away
the fish, but evidently much disturbed.
The stickleback withdrew and poised
| again, moment later the otherstickle-
| back appeared on the other side of the
crab, and poised in the water just
above the level of the crab, and
pointing diagonally downward the
crab like the stickleback on
the other side. Both fish
were motionless and perfectly
cool. Presently they made a dart,
practically together, for what was left
of the crabs dinner. Again the crab
managed to save it by hugging it
tightly to his body with both claws;
but he was completely fustered by
this joint attack from different quar-
ters; he waved his upper legs wildly in
the water, first to beat off the intrud-
ers, and then to keep them away,
and he kept waving them after they
had gone"
The stickleback builds nests in the
water, on the bottom, among the
plants, or if it finds an angur hole
through timber in a pond, it might
build in that, as it sometimes does in
the loop of rope hanging in the
water. The male fish does the build
ing, the female fish staying about and
looking on. The sticklebac builds its
nest of little pieces of plants, very
small twigs, watersoaked and lying on
the bottom, and dead grass, and SO on,
and he makes it in the form of a sec
tion of cylinder laid horizontally. A
two-spined stickleback four inches
long will build nest two and a hall
to three inches long, and one inch or
less in diameter When the fish is in
its nest its head and tail project little
at either end. The exterior of the nest
is rather rough and ragged, the interior
smoother; in thickness of wall nest OF
the above dimensions would be some
thing less than quarter of an inch.
When the construction has been com.
pleted, the builder rubs off upon the
nest from the sides of his body sort
of cement, which causes the twigs and
things to hold together.
In the course of the building of the
nest the male stickleback takes on
many bright and beautiful colors.
When the nest is completed the builder
drives the female into it TO spawn.
After the female has deposited it's eggs
and come out of the nest the builder
closes up both ends of it with the same
kind of material that it used in build.
ing the nest originally. 1t does not
close the next up tightly, but simple
so as to keep the little fishes, when
they have Matched out, within the nest
until the proper time for them to come
out. The Matching takes little less
than three weeks. During that time the
females stays about, doing nothing, as
before; the male is on guard about the
nest, keeping away intruders, and per.
fectly ready to fight if necessary.
When the little sticklebacks arc big
enough to care for themselves the male
stickleback opens the cylinder and lets
them out, and they swim away to seek
their fortunes in the watery world -
N. Y. Sun.
The Birds Eye.
A rustic audience in far western