386 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY - IV. 



t 

 !. HIPPOCAMPUS Rafiuesque." 



Sea Horses. 



(K:itint-si|iir, Imlirr il'Itt iolo^ia Siciliana, 1810, 37: typo Syngnathus hippocampus L. = 

 HipptH-timpiia hcptagonus Raf. ) 



Body strongly compressed, the belly gibbous, tapering abruptly to 

 a long, quadrangular, prehensile tail. Head with a distinct curved 

 neck, placed nearly at a right angle with the direction of the body, 

 surmounted by a compressed occipital crest, on the top of which is an 

 angular, star-shaped coronet; top and sides of the head with spines. 

 Body and tail covered with bony plates, forming rings, those on the 

 body each with 6 spines or tubercles, those of the tail with 4. Pectoral 

 fins present; anal minute, usually present; dorsal fin moderate, opposite 

 the vent. Egg-pouch in the male a sac at the base of the tail, termi- 

 nating near the vent. Species numerous, in all warm seas, (^--wxa/^-oc, 

 the ancient name, from terro?, horse; *a,u-<>?, a wriggling sea-monster, or 

 a caterpillar.) 



619. H. liepfagomis Raf. Sea Horse. 



Yellowish brown ; eyes and cheeks with radiating wavy lines of light 

 brown ; snout with a narrow white cross-baud near its middle (fide 

 Goode) ; sides with a few small pale spots ; dorsal dusky above. Tuber- 

 cles of body and tail prominent, slightly recurved, usually provided 

 with slender filaments, the tubercles of each alternate or each third ring 

 on the back usually larger than the others. Occipital crest very high, 

 with 5 tubercles, the anterior with long filaments. Snout as long as the 

 opercle, which is marked with radiating striae. I). 18; P. 18; A. 4. 

 Kings 11 + 36. L. 5 inches. Warmer parts of the Atlantic ; north to 

 England and Newfoundland ; rather rare on our coast. Very abundant 

 in the Mediterranean. European examples examined by us are pro- 

 fusely spotted, the, snout plain; ours is possibly a different species. 



(Synfintitliux lii/>/ii>ciinipiix L. Syst. N:it. ; IJalinrsquc 1 , 1. c. 37 : HippOCampVS atiliquonnr. 



Zonl. Mi>c. l-ll, i(i-i: Hippocampus antiquorum Qtinther, viii, ','nn; Hippooamptu 



niin (iooclr, I'roc. U.S. Nat. Mns. I-?.- 1 , .!.">: IHi>/H>cm>ipiix l>ri-ri,-<>xtrin Cnvirr, 

 riiiii- Aniin. : Hippocampus kudeoniut IVKay, N. V. Fauna, Fishr.s, :',-J-_ : llipitocampun 



iii* Slorcr. Hist. I'i^h. Mass. 410: f JIii>jnicainpiin In i innidattiti Guutlicr, viii, 'J 

 tail u-illi..iit 



62O. II. iei^c'iis ' .i'!. 



Chestnut lirown, mottled with dnrker, and dotted with wliite. Body 

 rather slender, its depth about equal to the distance from snout to pos- 



= nippoc'Jipu8 LCIK-II. Xool. Misc. 1H14, 103. 



