MASTERS OF THE WATER-BONY FISHES 201 



Similar Species: The cornet fish, Fistiilaria tahacaria, is of a different but very 

 similar family, Fistulariidae. It is typically West Indian, and reaches larger size 

 (to 6 feet) and has a proportionately longer snout than the trumpet fish. There is 

 a long filament proceeding backward from the middle of the caudal fin. 



Lophobranchs: Suborder Lophobranchi 



This group includes the sea horses and pipefishes. The scales in these very 

 specialized fishes form a stiff but movable encasing armor. The mouth is small 

 and at the end of a long snout. 



All lophobranchs are carnivorous, feeding on very small animals, mosdy 

 crustaceans. Most have reduced tail fins (sea horses have none) and depend 

 on the fluttering dorsal and pectoral fins for movement. In addition, the tails of 

 many (especially sea horses) are prehensile. Movement is stiff but graceful. 

 The breeding habits are very odd. The female deposits the eggs, up to a few 

 hundred, in a pouch on the male's belly. There they incubate and hatch. 

 Miniature young emerge to relieve the male of his burden. The male fre- 

 quentlv rubs his pouch against some object to hasten the multiple birth. 

 Lophobranchs are probably degenerate offshoots of the hemibranchs. They are 

 t\'pical of the sandv, shallow, eelgrass-covered waters of temperate and tropical 

 seas. 



SEA HORSES AND PIPEFISHES: Family Syngnathidae 



The sea horses and pipefishes differ only in that the latter are straight while 

 the former ha\'e a head that is bent sharply down and travel upright, looking 

 like a chess knight. Both of them depend on concealing coloration and habits 

 for protection. Some (notably the East Indian Phylloyteryx) even have fantastic 

 filamentous extensions on their bodies so that they resemble seaweed. 



NORTHERN pipefish: Syngnathxis fiisciis—Color Plate 1 



Size: Averages 6 inches. Up to 1 foot. 



Distrilmtion: Halifax to North Carolina. Most common near New York. 



Identification: The color varies from green to brown, depending on the 

 environment. 



' Habits: Moves stiffly in shallow water over weedy beaches. It is fond of 

 the little shrimp Gannuarns. Most movement is by means of the dorsal fin as in 

 the sea horse. The tail is used for movement only when the fish gets excited. 

 The courtship is very strange. The two mates swim erect, their bodies in 

 S-shaped curves. As they pass each other, they touch and become more and 

 more aroused until they twine their S-curved bodies together— looking verv 

 much like the U.S. Army Medical Corps insignia— and the female deposits 

 some eggs in the pouch of the male. This process is repeated several times 

 until all the eggs are laid. 



Similar Species: A large 18-inch species, the great pipefish, Syngnathiis 

 calif orniensis, occurs on the California coast and northward. 



NORTHERN SEA HORSE: Hippocavipiis hiidsoniiis—Color Plate I 



Size: Averages 4 to 5 inches. Up to over 6 inches. 



