FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



175 



68. Pipefish {Sifhostoma fuscum Storer) '" 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 770. 



Description. — This is a ver}- slender little fish, particularly so behind the vent, 

 males being about 35 times as long as deep and females about 30 times. The head 

 is one-eighth to one-ninth the total length (in the trumpetfish it is nearly one- 

 third) ; the snout is tubelike, blunt ended, and vdth the small toothless mouth at its 

 tip. The gill openings are very small. The entire body is covered ^vith an armor 

 of bony plates cormected in rings, of which there are 18 to 20 on the body in front 

 of the vent and 36 to 42 on the tail behind the vent. It is heptagonal in cross- 

 section in front of the vent and hexagonal behind it, a character evident vrlien the 

 fish is in hand. The abdomen of the male is wider just back of the vent than else- 

 where, with two lateral flaps that meet along the midline to form the so-called 

 "marsupial" or brood pouch. The female lacks these. The dorsal fin (36 to 40 

 rays and 5 or 6 times as long as high) covers 4 or 5 of the bony rings in front of the 

 vent and as many behind it. The caudal fin is rounded, its middle rays the longest. 

 The anal is very small, close behind the vent; the pectorals are of moderate size; 

 there are no ventral fins. 



^^i^-'^^^^r^^^^^^is 



^^^^^^-^ 



Fic. 81.— Pipefish (Sipkosioma fuscum) 



Color. — Greenish or olive above, transversely barred and mottled vdth darker. 

 The lower parts of the gill covers are silvery. The lower sides are sprinkled ^^■ith 

 many tiny white dots, and the angle separating side from abdomen is marked by 

 a longitudinal brown bar. The lower surface of the snout is colorless; thence back 

 to vent pale to golden yellow, -with, the marsupial flaps flesh-colored. Dorsal and 

 pectoral fins are pale, and the caudal is brov,-n.'^ Pipefishes change color accord- 

 ing to the color of their surrounchngs. We have seen them of various shades of 

 olive and bro^vn — even red ones having been described. 



Size. — Usually 4 to 8 and occasionalh' up to 12 inches long. 



General range. — Coast of eastern North America, in salt and brackish water, 

 from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to North Carolina. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — Although Cape Ann has often been- set as 

 the northern hmit of the pipefish, in reality it is not uncommon in the Bay of Fundy 

 and has been recorded from many locahties along the coasts of Maine and Massa- 



w This is the only pipefish that occurs on our northern coasts. For a synopsis ol the various other species of the genus see 

 Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 961 



n Colors after Storer (185S-1867, p. 412), with which the specimens we have esamined agree in general. 



