218 FISHES FOR THE MARINE AQUARIUM. 



after death, and not lose their shape. The largest 

 is the great pipe-fish (Syngnathus acus), which never 

 exceeds 18 inches in length. All the pipe-fishes 

 swim in a nearly vertical position, with their bodies 

 very rigidly disposed, and locomotion is effected al- 

 most entirely by the very rapid undulation of the 

 pretty dorsal fin. Their colour is usually palish brown, 



Fig. 146. 



Deep-nosed Pipe fa\\-(Syngnatkus ty ph.lt). 



but they are marked by dark brown bands. All of 

 them love to hide among the beds of "sea-grass" 

 (Zostera marina, a true flowering plant, and not a 

 sea-weed), although their food consists of the smaller 

 Crustacea, for they cannot take much of any other on 

 account of the peculiar structure of their mouths, 

 though they sometimes eat their own young. The 

 diameter of the body of the great pipe-fish rarely 

 exceeds half or three-quarters of an inch. The slender 

 upper and lower jaws are united, and open only just 

 in front. The different species of pipe-fish are easily 

 recognised by the variations in the head and tail. In 



