672 



SCAXDIXAVIAN FISHES. 



could have l)ecii made to pass between the jaws and 

 through the gullet," this depending, (»{' coiirse, on the 

 distensive powers of the snout. 



The spawning-season occurs in spring and summer. 

 Ci>ucii found a male with eggs in the niarsupium in 

 April. (_)n tlie 7th of May, 1S()9, at the west entrance 

 of the Channel (Lat. 47° 14' N., Long. 9° 9' W.), the 

 Josephine Expedition took several young specimens of 

 this species, swimming freely about at the surface. 

 These specimens were between 10 and 21 mm. long, 

 of light colour and transparent, ])ut already marked 

 with transverse spots. In the smallest of them the 

 whole of the embryonic vertical tin was still persistent. 

 The largest ones liad fully develo]K'd tins, except the 

 anal, of whicii not a trace was yet visible; and their 

 plates, as is usual in the fry, were tipped with spines. 

 We found the number of i'in<rs in front of the dorsal 



tin to 1)(' IIJ. Malm saw in the possession of Mi-. 

 (t. Kolthokf a male 440 mm. long, with almost 

 fully developed embryos, tliat had been taken in 

 the neighbourhood of SkaftO ((iullmar Fjord) on tlie 

 1st of August, 1877. In two males whicli were taken 

 in StrOmstad Fjijrd ]>y Mr. C A. Hanssox in Sep- 

 tember and ( )ctober, 1888, tlie niarsupium i* i|uite 

 empty. 



It \vas in this sjtecies that John Walcott lirst 

 discovered, either in 1784 or 1785 according to Yakrell, 

 that it is realh' the male who carries the impregnated 

 eggs during their further development, and not the fe- 

 male, as had previously been supposed ever since the 

 time of AiiiSTOTLE. Walcott's ol)servation was first 

 published, however, by Yarrell in 1836, or five years 

 after Ekstrum had published his account of the Deep- 

 nosed Pipefish {Si/i!(/iiatJu(s tijjiliJf). 



THE LESSER PIPEFISH (sw. lilla tangsxallan")- 

 SYNGNATHLiS ROSTELLATUS. 



Plate XXVIII, figs. G— H. 



Siiont terete and shatloir. Le)i(jth of the hedd less tlian 13 % nf tliat of tlie liodij and at iiKist 20 % of that of 

 the tail, irhlch is more than twiee that of the trunk. Distanee betireen the dorsal fn and the tip of tlte s)ioi(f at 

 most 37 % of the length of the body, and the length of the base of this fin more than Vs of t^iis distance and 

 also greater than the length of the head. Length of the marsupinm of the males more than twice the length of 



the head. Hind margin of the candal fin r(ninded. 



D. 33—39; A. 3''; P. 0—11; V. (9) 10; Ann. 52—50 = 

 (15 — 17) + X. 



Sijn. Synrjualhus pelaginis, Donovan, Brit. Fish., t<'ib. LVIII (nee 



Osbeck). 

 Si/ni/natlnis typhle, Malm (p. p.), Ufvers. Vet. Akad. Furli. 



1852, p. 84. 

 Syngnatlms rostellatus, NiLSS., Skaml. Fn., Fisk., p. (587; 



ScuLEQ., Diei: Nederl., Vissch., p. 179, tab. 17. fig. 2; 



Ltkn, Vid. Meddel. Nalurli. For. Kbhvn 1865, p. 222; Malm, 



Gbrjs, Boh. Fn., p. 595; Winth., Natiirb. Tidskr. Kblivn, 



ser. 3, vol. XII, p. 53; Petersen, Vid. Meddel. Naturli. For. 



Kbhvn 1884, p. 159; Lillj., Sv., Nonj. Fisk., vol. Ill, 



p. 459. 

 myngiialliiis acus (p. p.), Gthr, Cat. Brit. Mits., Fish., vol. 



VIII, p. 157; Coll., Forb. Vid. Seisk. Christ. 1874, Tilla?gsh., 



p. 200; ibid. 1879, No. 1, p. 101; Day, Fish. Gt. Brit., 



IreL, vol. II, p. 259, tab. CXLIV, fig. 2. 

 i^>/ii(jniithas Diimerilii, Di'M., Hist. Nat. Poiss. (Nouv. Suit, ii 



Biiil".), toi.i. II, p. 55(5; Mor., Hist. Nut. Poiss. Fr., torn. 



II, p. 49. 



01/.^. As appears from the title of Plate XXVIII we originally 

 held the same opinion as GDnther and Day, that this little Pipefish 

 was merely a juvenile form, singular in certain respects, of the pre- 

 ceding species. The collections made by Hedenbobg in the Bospho- 

 rus for the Royal Museum show, however, that St/ngnathus rostellatus 

 is certainly distinct from the Mediterranean species with which it has 

 been identified by GUntiier (Syngn. Imcculentus, Rathke; 6'. brevi- 

 rostris, Hempr. and Ehhenb.). The latter species has a shorter snout 

 and longer postorbital region etc., the length of the snout in all 

 Hedenborg's specimens being less than 47 % of that of the head, 

 the postorbital length of the head equal to or at least more than * - 

 of the length of the snout, and the least depth of the snout '/, — ','3 

 of its length, while the depth of the body at the beginning of the 

 tail is more than V3 (22 — 26 %) of the length of the base of the 

 dorsal fin. These two species cannot, therefore, be ranged as mutually 

 complementary forms of transition to Syngnathus acus. Furthermore, 

 in 1842 the Royal Museum received through Mr. Pontin, Member of 

 the Swedish Medical Council, a thing previously unknown, to the liest 

 of our knowledge, namely a young specimen 155 mm. lung of the 

 Atlantic Syiign. acus, taken "by a Dutch captain, probably in the 

 North Sea." This specinion has (54 (20 + 44) rings on the body; 



" Malm, 1. c. 



'' Sometimes 4, accordiii 



to Lilljeborg and NiLssoN. 



