280 LOPHOBRANCHII. PIPE-FISHES. 



Needle-fish. This is the S. ophidion of Pennant, 

 and some other authors who took him as their 

 guide. He also calls it the Little Pipe-fish, it being 

 the smallest of the family, usually about five inches 

 long. The nose is shorter and more suddenly turned 

 upwards than in the other species ; the eyes promi- 

 nent. It appears to pass through a kind of meta 

 morphosis when young ; the whole of the tail, vvhei. 

 it escapes from the egg, being enveloped in a thin 

 membrane, and small pectoral fins are also visible, 

 both of which subsequently disappear. It is pro- 

 bable that a more intimate acquaintance with fishes 

 in the earlier stages of their development, would 

 supply many examples analogous to this. The 

 Worm-like Pipe-fish does not appear to be rare, al- 

 though it is probably often overlooked owing to its 

 small size. It is common on the coast of Cornwall ; 

 occurs in various parts of Ireland ; in Berwick Bay, 

 and in Orkney, where, according to Low, it is found 

 very frequently under stones in the space between 

 high and low- water mark. 



Gen. XCIX. Hippocampus. — Cuvier defines this 

 genus as having the trunk laterally compressed, and 

 much more elevated than the tail; when the body 

 curves after death, the upper parts have some re- 

 semblance to the head and neck of a horse in minia- 

 ture, which has suggested the English name. The 

 margin of the scales are formed into ridges, and the 

 angles into spines. Both sexes have pectoral and 

 dorsal fins, and the females an anal one. The spe- 

 cies are not numerous, but they occur in some parts 



