The usual colour is deep orange, varied with minute dark spots. The under parts of the body and throat are of flesh colour; the centre of the sucker being faintly tinged with crimson.
I have seldom met with specimens measuring more than one, or one and a quarter inches. It is a marked peculiarity in this Sucker-Fish, that when adhering to any substance it has a constant habit of curving the tail towards the head. In such position it will remain motionless for several hours.
There is little difficulty in capturing the Montague Sucker in its native haunts. It does not possess the power of darting to and fro with the speed of the Blenny, or most other fishes, but progresses through the liquid element with a peculiar quivering motion.
It is not a fish that can be recommended for the aquarium. A fortnight to three weeks is the longest time that I have been able to keep a specimen alive; indeed, until I adopted the plan of allowing each little captive to remain quiet and undisturbed in a dark and shady place, death ensued in the course of one or two days.
[My illustrations (Plate 12)] having been carefully drawn and coloured from a living specimen, the student will, I trust, find no difficulty in recognising the Diminutive Sucker, should he be so fortunate as to meet with it in a rocky pool.
'There is also a fish called the Sticklebag, a fish without scales, but hath his body fenced with several prickles. I know not where he dwells in winter, nor what he is good for in summer, but only to make sport for boys and women anglers.' Thus contemptuously does dear old Izaak speak of the Sticklebag, or Stickleback, as it is now termed, one of the most amusing and interesting members of the finny tribe. I have frequently transferred specimens of the Stickleback from fresh water to salt water, and found them live quite as well in the latter as in the former.
The contrast, however, between the appearance of the three spined Stickleback, when first taken from the sea, and one captured in the fresh water pond is very remarkable. The first is dressed in a gorgeous coat of varied colours. Around the mouth and belly it is bright crimson, on the upper part of its body various tints of green prevail; while in the pond specimen no red colour is visible at all, but only white blended with green.
In addition to Gasterosteus aculeatus, whom we have above alluded to, there is another species, G. spinachia, or Fifteen-Spined Stickleback, which is also an inhabitant of rock-pools by the sea-shore, but unlike the first-mentioned, is never found in fresh water. Both species possess one peculiarity in common, a description of which will form an appropriate conclusion to this chapter. I allude to their nest-building habits, which has only of late years been proved to exist, although Aristotle has recorded the same fact regarding a fish (Phycis) in the Mediterranean Sea, which was known to make a nest and deposit its spawn therein.
The duties of mason and architect are invariably undertaken by the male Stickleback. His materials are of course very limited, still his labours are skilfully and even artistically performed. Having chosen a suitable spot as a foundation for his house, he collects some delicate sea-weeds, gravel and sand, and with these materials, aided by a glutinous fluid which is given off from his body, the house is built. When completed, and not before, he seeks out his mate, and invites her to take possession of her newly formed home. If she shows any affectation or coquetishness, he does not hesitate to nip hold of her tail, and urge her forward by equally expressive signs. Soon, like a dutiful little pet, she enters, and having deposited spawn, retires again, leaving her lord and master to guard the casket and its living treasure. This task, though extremely arduous, he adopts with pride and gratification.