344 U. S. P R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 



Hyii.—Si/ngTiathidae, Bonap. Sagg. Dietr. inetod. Anim. Vertebr., 1831, 1 19.— DeKay, New Y. Faun. IV, 1842, 319. — Storer, 

 Rep. Fisli, Maas. 1639, 162; &, Syuiips. 184G, 238.— Owen, Lec-t Comp. Anat. VerU-br. Anim. 1646, 50.— 

 P.u. Iconogr. Encycl. II, 18j0, 232. 



On either coast of North America the genus Syngnalhus is the only one of the family which 

 has furnished us with representatives. They have been observed from the coast of Massachusetts 

 to the Gulf of Mexico, and from San Diego^ California, to Puget's Sound, Washington Territory. 



SYNGNATHUS, Artedi. 



Gen. Char. — Bcidy elungated, slender, heptangular; tail slender, elongated, tapering, and quadrangular, continuous with the 

 body, and longer than the body and head together. Body and tail both covered with indurated parallelogramic plates, arranged 

 in longitudinal and parallel series, with a slight longitudinal and crested ridge along their middle. Head elongated, slender, and 

 sub-cylindrical, in a direct line with the body. Opercular apparatus large ; branchial apertures small. One singe dorsal 

 fin; one caudal, posteriorly rounded or convex ; no ventrals ; a vestige of an anal in the female sex. Pectorals broad and short. 



SYH.—Syngnathwi, Art. Gen. Pise. 1738; &, cd. Walbaumi, 1792, I —Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. X-i I, l/.'iS, 336.— Gov. Regn. 

 Anim. IL 1817, 156; 2d ed. 11, 1829; &, ed. illustr. Poiss. 330.— Storer, Rep. Fish. Mass. 1839, 162; 

 &, Synops. 1846, 238.— DeIvay, New Y. Faun. IV, 1842, 319.— Dum. Ichth. analyt. 1856, 171. 



Tlie pipe-fish {SijrKjnalhus) assume a horizontal position in the medium in which they live 

 as usual in the class of fishes. Their onward movements depending chiefly upon the exertion 

 of the dorsal and pectoral fins, which are the propelling organs ; the caudal playing the part of 

 a rudder. 



1. SYNGNATHUS CALIFORNIENSIS, Storer. 



Californian Fipe-Fish. 



Spec. Char. — ITead contained seven times in the total length ; a little short of twice in that of the body. Anterior rim of 

 the orbit nearer the insertion of the pectoral fins than the apex of the snout. Longitudinal diameter of the orbit entering nine 

 times and a half in the length of the side of the head. Origin of dorsal fin situated opposite the anterior edge of the vent; its 

 base in the male sex entering twice in the length of the body, from the concavity of the thoracic belt to the vent. Dark reddish 

 brown ; yellowish beneath ; lower portion of the sides dashed with white. 



SiK.—Si/nffnathus culifornimsis, Storer, in Proc. Bust. Soc. Nat. Hist. H, 1845, 73 ; &, Synops. 1846, 272.— Grd. in Proc. 

 Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. VIII, 1656, 137. 

 Sijngnallius (jriso Unealus, Ayres, in Proc. Cal. Acad. Nat. Sc. I, Dec. 1854, 14. 



Having had an opportunity of studying either sex of this species comparatively, the characters 

 assigned to it have thus served as a standard towards the discrimination of the following 

 species, some of which being based upon male, others upon female specimens alone. 



The largest specimens before us measure over eleven inches in total length ; the head forming 

 the seventh part of it. Nineteen plates may be counted anteriorly to the vent, and forty-two 

 posterior to it ; the vent itself occupying one intermediate plate. The base of the dorsal fin 

 of the female sex entering twice and a half times on the distance between the concavity of the 

 thoracic belt and the posterior edge of the anal aperture ; its posterior margin in either sex 

 being nearer the extremity of the caudal than the apex of the snout ; much more so in the 

 female than in the male. The length of the sub-caudal pouch being equal to the distance 

 between the vent and the anterior third of the snout. 



D 38 ; A 3 ; C ] , 4, 4, 1 ; V ; P 12 or 13. 



The color of the upper regions are dark reddish brown, somewliat lighter on the flanks, the 

 lower part of which are dashed with wliitish. The inferior regions are yellowish white 

 maculated with brownish. 



