REVIEW OF HIPPOCAMPUS — GINSBURG 521 



to restrict Schinz's longirostris. As far as I loiow this was not done 

 by any previous author, and the name longirostris, therefore, is here 

 formally restricted to a seahorse from the Mediterranean. 



Kisso -^ described two species of seahorses, H. antiquus and H. 

 rosaceus. The descriptions are evidently erroneous in some important 

 particulars, somewhat conflicting in their statements when compared 

 with specimens of the common species, and he apparently relied on 

 the color to a large extent to distinguish the species. A comparison 

 of his two descriptions, however, allows the identification of Risso's 

 species with some measure of confidence. For the first-named species 

 he states: "Angulis subtuberculatis; * * * la queue presente 

 quatre faces longitudinales avec quartre rangees d'anneaux ornes 

 d'une houppe de filaments delies ; la tete est grande, le museau etroit 



* * * couleur generale d'un vert obscur varie de teintes brunes"; 

 while for the second species he states, "la tete est plus grosse, le 

 museau un peu plus large * * * sa surface est d'un beau rose 

 tendre, pointillee de blanc et d'azur* * *." A comparison with 

 the two common Mediterranean species will show that these state- 

 ments give a fair although incomplete characterization by which the 

 two species may be distinguished. Therefore, as far as the original 

 accounts are concerned, antiquus becomes a synonym of hippocampus, 

 and rosaceus has been anticipated by longirostris Schinz. The rose 

 color, which Risso describes for his rosaceus, is a certain color phase 

 sometimes found in either species, according to R.auther,^*' 



As mentioned, Risso's statements are rather conflicting, as when 

 he describes antiquus in his Latin diagnosis as having "angulis sub- 

 tuberculatis", and farther on, in the description, states, "le corps 



* * * ceint de treize anneaux garnis de tubercules pointus." 

 As far as the adults are concerned the presence of pointed tubercles 

 would apply more nearly to the long-snouted species, but also to 

 young specimens of the other species, H. hippocampus, and Risso 

 may have drawn that statement from young fish. It is also quite 

 possible that he did not properly separate his material, having relied 

 on color to a large extent, and that his antiquus is a composite of two 

 species, but on the basis of the original descriptions the best dispo- 

 sition of his two names is as indicated. In any case, the disposition 

 of his names does not affect the nomenclature and merely relates to 

 the proper segregation of the synonymy, since Risso has been anti- 

 cipated and earlier names are available for both common Mediter- 

 ranean species. 



Cuvier ^^ introduced three names for seahorses, as follows: "II s'en 

 trouve dans nos mers une espece a museau plus court {Hipp, hrevi- 



'« Histoire naturelle des principales productions de 1' Europe mfiridionale et particulierement de celles des 

 environs de Nice et des Alpes maritimes, vol. 3, pp. 183, 184, 1826. 

 so Die Syngnathiden des Qolfes von Neapel, pi. 2, figs. 15-16, 1925. 

 31 Le regne animal . . ., ed. 2, vol. 2, p. 363, 1829. 



