386 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICRTHYOLOGT IV. 



l§8.— HIPPOCAIWPUS Rafinesque.* 

 Sea Horses. 



(Rafinesque, ludice d'lttiologia Siciliana, 1810, 37: type Syngnathua hippocampus L. = 

 Hippocampus heptagonus Raf.) 



Body strongly compressed, the belly gibbous, tapering abrui)tly to 

 a long, quadrangular, prehensile tail. Head with a distinct curved 

 neck, placed nearly at a right angle with the direction of the body, 

 surmounted by a comi^ressed occipital crest, on the top of which is an 

 angular, star-shaped coronet ; top and sides of the head with spines. 

 Body and tail covered with bony plates, forming rings, those on the 

 body each with 6 spines or tubercles, those of the tail with 4. Pectoral 

 fins present; anal minute, usually present; dorsal fin moderate, opposite 

 the vent. Egg-pouch in the male a sac at the base of the tail, termi- 

 nating near the vent. Species numerous, in all warm seas. {l--6y.aiJ.-oc, 

 the ancient name, from Unoq, horse; xdn-o?, a wriggling sea-monster, or 

 a caterpillar.) 



619. H. laepJagOBBMS Raf. — Sea Horse. 



Yellowish brown ; eyes and cheeks with radiating wavy lines of light 

 brown ; snout with a narrow white cross-band near its middle {Jide 

 Goode) ; sides with a few small pale spots ; dorsal dusky above. Tuber- 

 cles of body and tail x^rominent, slightly recurved, usually provided 

 with slender filaments, the tubercles of each alternate or each third ring 

 on the back usually larger than the others. Occipital crest very high, 

 with 5 tubercles, the anterior with long filaments. Snout as long as the 

 opercle, which is marked with radiating striae. D. 18 ; P. 18 ; A. 4. 

 Rings 11 + 36. L. 5 inches. Warmer parts of the Atlantic ; north to 

 England and ^Newfoundland ; rather rare on our coast. Very abundant 

 in the Mediterranean. European examples examined by us are pro- 

 fusely spotted, the snout plain ; ours is possibly a different species. 



(Sifngnathushipjiocampus L. Syst. Nat. ; Rafinesque, 1. c. 37 : Hippocampus aniiquorum 

 Leach, Zool. Misc. 1814, 104: Hippocampus aniiquorum G\\\\t\u:T, viii, '200: Hippocampus 

 antiquormn Goode, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1878, 45 : Hippocampus hrcvirostris Cuvier, 

 R^gne Aniin. : Hippocampus hudsonius DcKay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 322 : Hippocampus 

 hudsonius Storer, Hist. Fish. Mass. 416: ^Hippocampus Iwiicaudatus Giiuther, viii, 205, 

 " tail without knobs.") 



620. M. ingens Grd. 



Chestnut brown, mottled with darker, and dotted with white. Body 

 rather slender, its depth about equal to the distance from snout to pos- 



* := Hippocampua Leach, Zool. Misc. 1814, 103. 



