STl(Al(;ilT-N<l.sKI) I'll'KMSII. 



68") 



it is liiirly (•(iiiiiiKHi. It nccurs in llic Mi'diterraiiean ol'f 

 Nici', accdrdiiii;- to Mokeat, and on tlie coast ol' Alii'icTs, 

 accor(lin,<;- to (uichknot aiid IH'mkkil. Acroi'diiii;- to 

 Canes'I'kini it lives round all the coasts of Italy and is 

 common in the Adriatic — assuuiino' that these ilcdi- 

 tevranean fishes are really identical in species with our 

 Straight-nosed Pipe-fish". Like the rest of our Pipe- 

 fishes this species is unknown in the western region of 

 the Atlantic. 



The most important contributions to our knowledge 

 of the habits and life of this species have been made by 

 Ek.stko.m and Fkie.s. As it glides through the grass- 

 wrack or alga' with its serpentine or Eel-like movements, 

 it shows greater litheness and also greater timidity than 

 the Deep-nosed Pipefish, but possesses the same pro- 

 tective likeness to a stalk of seaweed. From its long, 

 terete, taj>ering, highly flexible, and tinlcss tail, writes 

 Fries, it derives little, if any, assistance in its progress 

 through the water. This organ is generally kept still, 

 as the fish (piietly swims along, and is to be regarded 

 rather as a rudder than an oar. When the Deep-nosed 

 Pipefish is stationary or at rest, it sinks, stretched at 

 full length, to the bottom, and lies on the belly with 

 tail extended. The Straight-nosed Pipefish, on the other 

 liaud, coils its flexible tail with great skill round the 

 olijeets near at hand, and by the help of this organ 

 [ireserves an u]>riglit position in the watei'. It may be 

 seen continually attaching itself in this way, if it can 

 find anything round which to twine; and when it fails 

 in this, but has several companions in the same vessel, 

 one may often see them tM'ist their tails together and 

 form groups, not unlike tufts of grass-wrack, which 

 remind us in a manner of tlie old figures we see of 

 so-called "Katzen-KOnige." 



The most striking resemblance of the Straight- 

 nosed Pipefish, however, is its similarity to Chorda 

 Jihtm, to which it is often found attached, in those 

 localities where this seaweed floats about at the surface. 

 Like the rest of the Pipefishes this species lives on mi- 

 nute marine animals of various kinds, worms, crustaceans, 

 and mollusks, of a size suitable for its tiny mouth. 



"Towards the end of April," writes Ekstho.m from 

 the island belt of Morko, "the females desert the shore 

 and the shallows to join the males in deep water and 

 to perform the operation of spawning. The eggs, which 

 are fairly large in comparison with the fish, about 1 



mm. in dianuuer, arc attached to tlie surface of the 

 l>cll\- IVom the head lo the vent in 2, 3, or 4 rows, not 

 exactly opposite each otlier, but so to s])eak, decussating. 

 They are somewhat dc]iresscd in tlie skin, united by or 

 rather packed in tough nuicus, and coated with a mem- 

 brane so extremely fine that it can scarcely be detected 

 and cannot bear tlie least touch without breaking. When 

 this membrane is remo\ed, and the eggs are loosened 

 from the lielly, they hang tog(!th(>r like the beads of a 

 necklace. .Vs soon as the fish is dead, the roe falls 

 from the body, accompanied, however, by the said layer 

 of mucus in which the roe-strings hav(! been imbedded. 

 The eggs seem as thougli the}' might easily be detached 

 from the almost smooth skin of the belly; but they 

 have a triple fastening, first to the skin, by means of 

 the glutinous mucus, then to each other, by^ the union 

 of the poles, and finally, also to each other, by means of 

 the said membrane. The laying of the eggs begins at 

 the end of May, but is not simultaneous in all the spe- 

 cimens, being considerably protracted: I have seen males 

 with eggs even on the 1 1 th of August. When the eggs 

 are deposited, they are golden yellow in colour; but they 

 gradually fade. At the middle of July most of them 

 are ^vhite, with a yellow spot on the part of the surface 

 most remote from the body of the male. In some cases 

 the yellow spot is already furnished with two extre- 

 mely fine, bhick dots, tiie first signs of the embryo 

 with its eyes. We can thus state with certainty- that 

 the spawning-season, which begins during the first 

 days of May, lasts throughout this month and also 

 during June and July. — Neither before May nor after 

 September have I seen a male with roe." 



The new-hatched embryos are about 9 mm. long, 

 according to Lilljeborg, with the snout turned up like a 

 pug's, the eyes and the postorl)ital part of the head aljont 

 equally long, the entire length of the head about '<, of 

 that of the body, the vent situated distinctly in front 

 of the middle of the body (at a distance from the tip 

 of the snout equal to about 44 % of the length of the 

 body), and the sides of the trunk furnished with a num- 

 ber of prominent protuberances. The embryonic vertical 

 fin runs along the dorsal edge, back from the middle of 

 the trunk, round the tip of the tail, and along the 

 ventral edge forward to the remainder of the vitelline 

 mass, but with a .sharp break at the vent. The larval 

 pectoral fins are com]iaratively large. All these fins are 



Cf. notes // and c on the preceding page. 



