2. SYNGNATnUS. 173 



deeper than broad, with the ventral ridge very prominent. Shields 

 without spines. Tail (without caudal fin) twice or thrice as long as 

 the trunk (without head). Dorsal fin connnencing behind the vent. 

 Caudal fin small. Abdomen generally with about thirteen black 

 cross bars, at least as broad as the interspaces. Sometimes the 

 species is without these bands, and appears uniform brownish in 

 spirits. 



Indian Ocean. 



a-d. Half-grown : dried. Zanzibar. From Lieut. -Col. Playfair's 



Collection (with black cross bands). 

 e-f. Young. Zanzibar. From Lieut.-Col. Playfair's Collection 



(without black cross bands). 

 (J. Adult male. Rovuma lliver. From the Livingstone Expedi- 

 tion. The tail of this individual is only t^vice as long as the 



trunk, and composed of 29 rings. 

 h. Adult male. Mouth of the Zambeze. Presented by Dr. Kirk. 

 i. Young. Java, From Dr, Bleeker's Collection, One of the types 



of S. djarong ; abdomen without cross bands, 

 k. Adult, Ceram, From Dr. Bleeker's Collection. — Type of S. 



gastrotcenla ; abdomen with cross bands, 

 I. Half-grown, Borneo, From Dr. Bleeker's Collection. — Type of 



S. helfrichii ; abdomen without cross bands, 

 m, 11. Adult. Luzon. Presented by Prof. Peters. 

 0. Adult female. China. Presented by Gen. Hardwicke. — Type 



of S. hiseridlis. (Tail-rings 39 and not 46, as stated by Kaup.) 

 p. Adult. Purchased of Mr. Jamrach. 



Not having received the typical example oi Syngnnt'husheptagonu&, 

 Blkr. (101 millims. long), I am unable to convince myself of its 

 specific distinctness. Originally described as Hippichtliys hejitagonus, 

 from a single example from Madura (Bleeker, in Verb. Bat. Gen. xxii, 

 Madura, p. 15), it reappears as Sgngnathus pentagonus (ibid. xxv. 

 Trosk, p, 23), the generic name JtUppichtliys having proved to be 

 useless. There is nothing in the description which would lead me 

 to suppose that it was any thing more than one of the varieties of 

 S. sjyicifer. However, Dr, Kaup, who believes himself to have recog- 

 nized this species, refers it to his genus Ichthgocampus, which has the 

 dorsal ridges coalescent with those of the tail, expressly stating that 

 it differs from S. spidfer in this respect (Lophobr. p. 31). On the 

 other hand. Dr. Bleeker, at a later period (Enumer. Spec. p. 187), 

 leaves S. pentagonus with Syngnathus, although he acknowledges 

 the genus Ichthyocampus, thereby implying that it has the dorsal 

 ridges interrupted, and that Dr. Kaup's identification is erroneous. 

 Thus the species remains at present very doubtful, and it can only 

 be determined by a reexamination of the original typical specimen. 



Dr. Kaup's Corythoichthys gastrotcenla (Lophobr. p, 27) is cer- 

 tainly not the Syngnathus gastrotcenia of Bleeker, It is described 

 as having a, snout " one-third the length of the head," the tail, 

 which is not quite the " length of the body, having 40 rings," and 

 as being "found at Wahai and Ceram in the North Pacific" (!). 



