DEKI'-NIISEI) I'lrKl'lSII. 



675 



r. Xiitnrg., Jiilirg. 4(;, IM. I (1880), p. :!21; MoH., Hist. 

 Xat. J'oins. Fi:, torn. II, |.>. 55; Mki.a, Vert. Feiin., p. 3C)0, 

 tall. X; Day, Fish. Gt. Brit., Irel., vol. II, p. 257, tab. 

 (-'XMV, fig. 3; MiJb., Hcke (iSiphonostomiim), Fisch. Osts., 

 p. 102; Coi.i.. (Si/ni/nuthiis), N. Mng. Natiirv. CliriBt., Bd. 29 

 (1884), p. 11.'!; LiLLJ. (Siplionostotna), Sverg., Norcj. Fisk., 

 vol. Ill, p. 439. 

 Si/n.jmdhus acns, Ekstr., Vet. Akad H.-uidl. 1 8.-! 1, p. 271, tnli. 

 II, figg. 1 et 2; ScH.AGERSTR., Physiogr. Srillsk. Ticlski., )>. 

 314; Malm (Siphonostoma), Gbgs, Boh. Fii., p. 592. 



Tlie lU'c'p-iuj.sed Pi])etisli .-ittiiin.s ;i knigtli of 33 

 cm., ;ircor(liiiu- to ^'.\r!;ell. The lai-ycst ScimiliiiMviiin 

 spefiincii ill the |io.ss(_'ssi(.)n of tlie l\o\';il Musniin is ;i 

 female 27 cm. long (from Norway, through Mauklin); 

 and according to Ekstroji the size of the species never 

 exceeds 22'/., cm. in the islnnd-helt of Sriderni;iiil;ind. 

 In form of body it is much the same as the Great 

 I'ilietish, the onh" difference being that it generally has 

 a longer trind< and shorter tail. It thus represents in 

 "■encral the sexual characters tliat distinguish the fe- 

 males. As a ride too, the depth of the body is some- 

 what less; at the beginning of the tail it seldom (and 

 only in the males and young specimens) exceeds 2'/^ 

 * of the length of the body". 



The plates of the body essentially correspond in 

 form and arrangement to those of the two preceding- 

 species. As we have mentioned above, however, the 

 foremost inferior plates, the lowest covering-plates of 

 the shoulder-girdle, are more loosely attached to each 

 other at the middle of the ventral side*, and tlie first 

 ventral jilate is nearly always wanting'. The first of 

 the \entral plates that are present (corresponding to 

 the second in the Great Pipefish), is also, as a rule, 

 considerably reduced, so that a longitudinal, narrow 

 .strip, covered only with skin, is left behind the junc- 

 ture on the ventral side of the plates belonging to the 

 shoulder-girdle. Thus, as the last (and sometimes the 

 penultimate) ring on the trunk is also without ventral 

 plate, here as in the Great Pipefish, we find only 17 

 (sometimes only IG) ventral plates, while tiie numl)er 

 of i)lates in the lower lateral row of the trunk is usu- 

 alh' IS. In the cases where the last-mentioned num- 

 ber is lit. there are only 18 ventral plates; wlien it is 

 17, we find, as a rule, only 16 of tlie latter. The so- 

 called occipital plates are only slightly raised, and the 



anterior one is slill sninllci' tiiMii in the (jreat Piiielish. 

 The middle hileral carina of the (ruuk (the middle hi- 

 teral row of plates) as a rule i'ornis a regular continua- 

 lioii (if the c-ni'iiia curNiiig downward in front from 

 the upper latt'fal ni;irgin of the tail, and in this re- 

 spect the I)ee])-nose(l Pipefish thus represents the eai-ly 

 stages of the two jjreceding forms. P>ut it is not un- 

 usual to find betwecni th(! said carina' the same break 

 here as in the' Gi'eat Pijiefish, the middle lateral carina 

 of the trunk ending in the last ring of the trunk (see, 

 for example, Plate XXI.X, lig. 1), and the correspond- 

 ing lateral carina of tlie tail beginning obli(juely above 

 this point, in the first caudal ring. We have never 

 found the last-mentioned carina, intrude within the last 

 ring of the trunk. The marsupium of the males ex- 

 tends, when f'ldlv developed, along 24 caudal rings, 

 and attains a length more than double that of the head. 



The length of the head, as a rule greatest in young 

 siiecimens, measures about 18 — 1,') '% of that of the 

 body''. The contour of the postorbital part of the head 

 passes evenly into that of the forepart of the trunk. 

 The occipital carina is not \ery prominent on the fiat 

 occiput, which slopes evenly and gradually in front into 

 the slightly concave forehead, but is sharply marked ofl' 

 from the steeply sloping temples, this sharp break being 

 formed on each side by the tempoi-al carina running 

 back from the upper orbital margin. The sui)erior 

 profile of the forehead and snout is also even, and tlie 

 orbital margin rises hardly perceptibh' above it. The 

 priufroiital knob is elongated in an horizontal direction. 

 The carina' of the snout are the same as in the Great 

 Pipefish. The distinguishing chariicter of tiie head of 

 this species lies in the deep and strongly compressed 

 form of the snout, when the mouth is closed, and also 

 in the fact that at the ascending tip of the snout the 

 lower jaw projects almost as far as the upper. \\'hen 

 the month is wide open, the snout assumes the terete 

 shape of a straight, eylindric;d tube, only a little dis- 

 tended in front. 



The length of the snout measures as a rule 60 — 63 

 % of that of the head; but in young specimens (be- 

 tween 6 and 7 cm. long) and exceptionally in adult 

 ones this percentage may sink to .57 or even to .J6. 



" 2'8 is tlie highest percentage we have fouiirl in tliis relation, anil this in a male 247 mm. long. 



' Now and then these plates are so loosely joined tliat they are not even contigiions, being nnited merely by tlie skin. 

 ' It is present, however, in one of our largest specimens, from Norway. 



'' According to A. H. Malm (Om ilen bredntihbade katittiahns utveckling och foi-tptai,t,iiwj, disp. Lund 1874, p. 4) the length of th( 

 head varies in tlie fry (12 — 43 mm. long) between nbont 'g and ' . of that of the body. 



