514 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 83 



at all. The question is, which species? Linnaeus' description of 

 S. Mpi^ocampus is as follows: "Pinna caudae nulla, corpore septem- 

 angulato tuberculato, cauda quadrangulata. D. 20. P. 18. . . . 

 Art. gen. 1 syn. 1. Syngnathus corpore quadrangulo, pinna caudae 

 carens. D. 35 . . . Habitat in Pelago. Laminae corporis trunci 17, 

 caudae 45." 



This account is largely generic and undoubtedly includes more 

 than one species, since some of the characters belong to widely 

 separated and unrelated species. For instance, no species of sea- 

 horse now loiown has a combination of 20 dorsal rays and 45 caudal 

 segments, although each one of those counts may be present in one 

 species or another. Evidcntl}^ Linnaeus intended to include all sea- 

 horses in one species. At any rate his description, including the 

 given locality, applies to more than one species. Consequently, on 

 the basis of the original account, Syngnathus hippocampus Linnaeus 

 represents a composite of more than one species, and it remains to 

 be seen how later authors restricted the use of the specific name 

 hippocamjms. 



Binomial authors immediately following Linnaeus generally con- 

 tinued to treat the seahorses as a single, species. What is probably 

 the best of these earlier accounts is that of Bloch ^^ under the name of 

 Syngnathus hippocampus. His figure shows a long snout and the spines 

 on the trunk and tail well developed and is a fairly good representation 

 of the common long-snouted Mediterranean seahorse, the species 

 later named H. guttulatus by Cuvier. Of the three common European 

 species the figure would apply more nearly to that species. Also, at 

 least part of Bloch's material evidently came from the Mediterranean. 

 However, Bloch cannot be said to have restricted the use of the spe- 

 cific name hippocampus, as is indicated by his statement: 



"* * * Dieser Fiscli wird haufig an den Ufern des Mittelland- 

 ischen Meeres, besonders zu Pozzuli, Neapel, in Frankreich bei Mar- 

 seille, im Nordmeere, und in Indien in der Strasse Sunda angctroffen 

 * * * . Ray, der aus demselben unrichtig vier besondere Gattun- 

 gen gemacht, hat unstreitig den Klein verleitet, drei Nebengattungen 

 anzunehmcn: den die Fasern, die etwas mehr hervorstehendcn 

 Hocker und die tiefern Einschnitte zwischen den Scliildern sind nur 

 Zufiille, die vom Alter, oder der Verschiedenheit des Geschlechts 

 herriihren." 



\Miile the variable characters enumerated by Bloch depend, as he 

 stated, on sex and age, they also differ with the species. At any rate, 

 his remarks as quoted, as well as the geographical distribution he 

 gives, clearly show that he regarded all seahorses as belonging to one 

 species, 



>7 Naturgeschichte der ausiandischen Fische, pt 1, p. 7, pi. 109, fig. 2, 178fi. The quotation here is from the 

 8vo. ed. 



