REVIEW OF HIPPOCAMPUS — GINSBURG 525 



To sum up briefly the foregoing review of the Uterature, hippo- 

 campus Linnaeus must be appUed to the common short-snouted 

 Mediterranean species as restricted by Leach. The specific names 

 heptagonus Rafinesque, antiquorum Leach, and brevirostris Schinz, 

 having been proposed as substitutes for hippocampus, must be reduced 

 to the synonymy of that species. The names proposed for the long- 

 snouted European species are longirostris Schinz (1822) and guttu- 

 latus Cuvier (1829). The latter is a substitute for the former, and 

 both names must go together. The later name is here employed, 

 in accordance with universal usage. Since the Mediterranean long- 

 snouted seahorse is now shown to be subspecifically distinct from 

 that of the Atlantic, the name longirostris and its substitute guttu- 

 latus are here restricted to the Mediterranean subspecies, to accord 

 with general usage. Risso's two names, antiquus and rosaceus, are 

 referred to the synonymy of hippocampus and guttulatus, respectively. 

 De la Pylaie's atrichus is unidentifiable, while his jubatus is unavail- 

 able either because it is pre-Linnaean or else because it represents a 

 nomen nudum. These names are disposed of by placing them in the 

 synonymy of multiannularis and hippocampus, respectively. The 

 specific names erectus Perry, 1810, and ramulosus Leach, 1814, are 

 doubtfully referred to the synonymy of punctulatus Guichenot, 1853, 

 and guttulatus Cuvier, 1829, respectively. 



I have based this discussion entirely on the published accounts, 

 not having opportunity to examine original material. Since the 

 original material, in some cases at least, evidently represented com- 

 posites of more than one species, and since the early writers were not 

 in the habit of designating "holotypes", the conclusions drawn from 

 the original accounts will probably have to stand; but it may be 

 necessary to modify these conclusions if it is ever possible to examine 

 some of the original material. 



Genus HIPPOCAMPUS Rafinesque 



Head forming an angle with the trunk, movable up or down for a 

 considerable distance, with the "throat" region as its axis. Brood 

 pouch an enclosed naked sac under anterior part of tail. Pectoral, 

 dorsal, and anal fins present, caudal absent. Tail prehensile; quad- 

 rangular; except first segment, normally hexangular in nearly all 

 species; sometimes quadrangular (as a rather infrequent individual 

 variation, in most species, and becoming the dominant condition in 

 the subgenus Jamsus). Trunk septangular, except the posterior 

 segments; last segment typically octangular (often hexangular in 

 zosterae) ; penultimate trunk segment usually septangular, sometimes 

 novemangular (as an infrequent individual variation in most species, 

 becoming nearly dominant in ingens and being the normal condition 



