GUKAT I'lrKKISII. 



(i71 



The a.iKil tin lies jnsl hchiiul the vont, at a 

 distance from tlie tip ut' llic snout not exceeding 

 41 % (39—40' , %) of the IcMizth <if tlic ImhIv. It is 

 extrenieh' small, rescmblini;' a thin and narrow dermal 

 flap, a little expanded towards llie tip, and consists of 

 three (according to Mohkai' four) rays, wiiich do not 

 attain a length of even half that of the longest rays of 

 the dorsal tin. it is often so entirely enveloped by the 

 marsupium of the males as to he in\isil)le externalh\ 



When expanded the caudal tin is fan-shaprd, with 

 rounded hind margin. As a rule it contains lU rays, 

 more seldom 9. Its length at the middle is about 3 % 

 (2"8 — 3"2 %) of that of the body, or at most about '/\, 

 (26 — "22 %, least in old specimens) of that of the head. 



The coloration is reddish or yellowish brown, with 

 about 12 or 13 broad, dark brown, transverse spots 

 across the hind part of the head, the back, and the 

 tail. These spots are intersected, howevei', by longi- 

 tudinal, oblong, smaller spots of the ground-colour. 

 The sides of the snout are also marked in a similar 

 manner. The ventral sick- is vello\\" or red. The lower 

 |jart of the gill-cover gleams with a silvery lustre. The 

 caudal tin is dark brown. The anal and [lectoral tins 

 are transparent, but the edges of the rays are dark 

 brown. The dorsal tin resembles the last-mentioned 

 tins, but has several transverse spots arranged in rows 

 on the rays. 



The geograpliical range of the Great Pipefish ex- 

 tends along the whole west coast of Europe south of 

 the neighbourhood of Trondhjem, and according to 

 GiNTiiEi; the British Museum has also received speci- 

 mens through Sir A. Smith from the Cape of Good 

 Hope. On the English coast the species is very com- 

 mon. It seems hardly jirobaljle that it occurs in the 

 Mediterranean, as Kr(ivi:r has already remarked. It 

 rather appears to be represented there bj- one or i)er- 

 haps two very nearly allied species, Syngnatlms rubes- 

 cens and S. toitiirostris. In the west of the Atlantic 

 it is unknown. Kkdvek states that it occurs in the 

 Kattegat; :uid according to \\'iNTiiEit he received two 

 young specimens from the northern entrance of the 

 Sound, oft' Hornbffik. In Christiania Fjord it is com- 

 imratively plentiful, according to Collett; and the 

 Royal Museum lias received through ^Ir. ('. A. Haxssox 

 several specimens, between 270 and 442 nun. in length. 



from Dj-nekil and Stromstad I'jord. Thus it cannot 

 lie con.sidered rare on the north coast of Bohiislnn; but 

 linlhcr sontli it has nc\t'r been nu-t with on the Swe- 

 dish coast. 



Tlie (Jreat Pipefisii generally lives, like other Lopho- 

 bi'anchs, among the seaweed in comparatively shallow 

 water, even between the tide-marks. But now and 

 then we meet with the S/iii(/iuitlii. and with tliis species 

 among others, at the surface, even far out at sea, when; 

 they show a high degree of acli\ity in their move- 

 ments, esijecially at night. During the Atlantic ex- 

 pedition of the corvette JosepJ/hie in 1869 I stood man\- 

 a night in the bows, aiul watched the wriggling motion, 

 in lines of phosphorescent light thi-ough the dark waves, 

 of Si)iif/n(itJiiis peJdf/iciis, a species which comes very 

 near the (ireat Pipefish, but is distingui.shed from it 

 in several respects, for example by a com|)arativelv 

 larger head and shorter tail and by the much shorter 

 marsupium of the males. Thompson also tells us of 

 the Great Pipefish": "A friend who has frequently 

 watched the movements of pipefishes in Belfast Bay 

 describes them as skinuning along the surface of the 

 water, in the summer evenings especially, like a 

 slate thrown horizontally. — He has seen them skip- 

 ping for 20 or .SO yards at a time, and also spring- 

 ing a foot high into the air." Tlie specimen which is 

 represented in our figure, was taken by ,'i fisherman 

 from Bohuslau, Anderssox by name, on "the Great 

 Fishing-bank S.W. of Bergen in 100 — 150 fathoms of 

 water;" but we have no information whether it was 

 taken at the bottom, or perhaps found at the surface. 

 In its daily life, according to Kroyei;, the Great Pipe- 

 fish "swims slowdy, with singular, .stift', angular, and as 

 it were contorted movements." At these times, here 

 as in the Lophobranchs in general, it is the vibrating 

 dorsal fin that is the real instrument of locomotion, the 

 pectoral fins, which move in the same manner, seeming 

 rather to steer the course of the fish. The fish lies in 

 every possible position, with the head turned downwards 

 or upwards or forwards at will, as it glides on in (piest 

 of its food'', which seems to consist principally of cru- 

 staceans'', usually of minute size, though "not unfre- 

 ({uently," sa)s Couch, "shrimps of comparatively no small 

 size are swallowed; and there have been foinid in the 

 stouiach some so larsre as to raise our wonder how tlic\' 



" .Vat. Hist. Irel., vol. IV, p. 'i.Blt. 



' Cf. Couch, Hist. Fish. Bnt. fsl., vcl. IV, p. 353. 



' Cf. Olssok, fakt. fsk. fndu, Lunds Univ. Arsskr.. VIII (1871). p. 10. 



