Father-lasher, a name applied to two Bull-heads (Cottus scorpius and bubalis) which occur commonly on British coasts. They have a wide European and American distribution, and belong to the Gurnard (q.v.) family (Cottidae), in the spiny-rayed (Acanthopteri) order of bony fishes. They are both somewhat forbidding little fishes, four or five inches in length, with dark, quaintly mottled skins, and with spines on the head. The head and pectoral fins are large in proportion to the body. The male builds a nest and guards the young.
In Scotland the second species is sometimes called the Lucky Proach, while the first species is also known as the Sea Scorpion. Both forms, but especially the first, are often left on the shore or among the rocks by the retiring tide.