ICHTHYOLOGY. 



315 



Okder VII.— LOPHOBRANCHII, Cuv. 

 Endo-skeleton partially ossified j eso-skeleton ganoid. 



Gills 



Classifica- 

 tion — 



hr n h tufted ; opercular aperture small. Swim-bladder without an air- 



,^ ' duct. Body almost fleshless, protected by bony rings. In most 



^"V"~^ the male carries the eggs till they are hatched. 



Family I.— SOLENOSTOMID^, Kaup. 



Breast and belly distinctly separated. Oral aperture at the end 

 of a long, compressed, leaf-like snout. When the gill-plate is raised 

 the whole gills are exposed. 



Genus I. Solenostomus, Seba, Lacep. Snout sharply edged 

 on its dorsal and ventral aspects. A sharp denticulated ridge, pass- 

 ing from the occiput over the eyes and nostrils, disappears in the 

 acute rostral crest. Back and breast acutely ridged. Pectorals 

 broad and short. Belly down to the caudal fin divided into rings 

 and armed by three longitudinal rows of short spines. First dorsal 

 very long ; the second and the anal rudimentary. Egg-pouch of 

 the males formed by the union of the inner borders of the ventrals 

 to the skin of the belly ; the females have free ventrals. One 

 species. 



Family II.-PEGASIDiE. 



Breast very gi-eatly expanded, much broader than high. Pectoral 

 fin long, with nine or ten firm spine-like rays. Gill-opening late- 

 ral ; gill-plate flat, depressed to the ventral plane. Mouth inferior, 

 like that of a Sturgeon, at the base of the rostrum. Body having 

 three knobbed or spinous rings; breast ring unusually broad, ex- 

 tended between the gill-plates, bispinous. V^entrals two-rayed, 

 filamentous. Tail flat, quadrangular, spinous. Dorsal and anal 

 occupying two to four rings ; caudal ten-rayed. 



Genus I. Pegasus, Linn. Three species. 



Fig. 135. 

 Pegasus natans. 



Family HI.— SYNGNATHIDjE, Kaup. ; Bonap. 



The small gill-opening circular and high up. One dorsal only, 

 near the anus. Form elongated. First dorsal and ventrals want- 

 ing ; pectorals in some present, in others absent; anal fin very 

 small, in some wholly wanting. The males have egg-pouches vary- 

 ing in position with the genus. Solcnognathus and Phyllopteryx have 

 no egg-pouches. 



SUIi-rAMILY- I. HIPPOCAMPINyE, Bonap. 



Tail generally prehensile at the tip; destitute of a fin. Occiput 

 jiore or less elevated. 



Genus I. Hippocampus, Cuv. Head more or less elevated pos- 



' teriorly ; an occipital coronet with spines or knobs. Orbits spiny. 



Pectoral ring with two or three spines. Body with ten to thirteen 



rings, more or less spiny. Tail-pouch of the male opening at its 



commencement only ; tail prehensile. Eighteen species. 



Genus II, Acentronuka, Kaup. Edge of the back forming 

 one line with the upper tail-ridge. Gill-opening at the point of 

 the occiput. No protuberances either on tlie body or tail. No coro- 

 net. Egg-pouch of the male on the tail as in Hippocampus. One 

 species, A. gracillima. 



Genus III. Gasterotokeus, Heck. (Syngnathoides.'GleeV.. ; fio- 

 Z*'^?j«(/tM*, Bleek. ncc Swains.) The lateral lines forming the edges 

 of the expanded belly. No nuchal shield. Tail prehensile. Dorsal 

 standing in a furrow and occupying ten to twelve tail rings. No 

 coronet. One species, G. hiacuhatus. 



GenusIV. Solenoonathus, Swains. Body laterally compressed, 

 higher than broad. Lateral line confluent with the upper angle of 

 the tail, forming an arch. Twenty-two to twenty-six body rings ; 

 fifty-five to sixty tail rings. Dorsal fin in a furrow occupying ten 

 to eleven tail rings. Tail prehensile. One species, .S. Uard- 

 wickii. 



Genus V. Pjiy'llopteryx, Swains. Body much compressed. 



Neck elongated, slender ; back arched; belly prominent. Dorsal Classifica- 

 fin placed on an elevation. Flat denticulated bones, supporting leaf- tion — 

 like cutaneous appendages on the body and tail. Tail tiuless, not Lopho- 

 prehensile. One species, Ph. foliatus. branchs. 



SUE-FAMILY 11.^ SYNGNATIIINjE, Kaup. 



Males possessing a caudal egg-pouch which is open throughout. 

 Tail never prehensile. 



Genus I. Halicampus, Kaup. Snout thin and short, set with 

 three rows of small spines and distinctly separated from the high 

 forehead and elevated spinous orbits. Eyes projecting. Hind-head, 

 nape, and pectoral shield crested ; pectoral ring broader than the 

 body. Dorsal fin standing on an elevation formed by three rings only. 

 Body rough-edged, filamentous. One species, H. conspiciUatus. 



Genus II. Trachyrkamphus, Kaup. Resembling //aHcmii/ws, 

 but with a longer head ; the snout denticulated on its dorsal aspect 

 only, and not so distinct from the head. Dorsal fin elevated on five 

 or six rings, three of which belong to the body. Pectoral ring no 

 wider than the head ; form more elongated than that of Halicam- 

 pus. Three species. 



Genus III. Couythoichthys, Kaup. Body tolerably long. 

 Fins small ; caud.il diminutive. Snout half the length of the ele- 

 vated head. Orbits large. Dorsal fin commencing in a concavity 

 of the tail over the anus, and not on an elevated base like that of 

 Hippocampus or Trackyrhynchus. Breadth greatest just behind the 

 dorsal. Body varied by light cross-bars. Six species. 



GenusIV. Ichthyocampus, Kaup. Edgesof the concave back 

 and tail running in the same line to the caudal fin. Head short. 

 Tail almost as thick as the body, suddenly pointed at the base of 

 the rudimentary caudal ; more tetragonal than Vorythoichthys. 

 Three species. 



Genus V. Syngnathus, Linn. No spines on the straight cy- 

 lindrical snout. Body heptagonal. Dorsal fin on the plane of the 

 back, not on an elevated base. Upper border of the back never in 

 the same line with that of the tail ; upper border of the tail either 

 continuous with the lateral line or intercupted where that line 

 terminates. Dorsal surface of tlie body fl it or flatly concave, and 

 never much compressed or bent into an arch. Body rings never 

 amounting to twenty-four or twenty-seven. Twenty-two species. 



Genus VI. Leptonotus, Kaup. In the females the body is much 

 compressed, and the back is acute like the edge of a knife. Belly 

 also acute, and in old fish the height of the body is five times its 

 breadth, but in the young the body is not so high. Dorsal profile 

 suddenly rising behind the pectoral fin. Tail nearly twice the 

 length of the body. Two species. 



Genus VII. Siphonostomus, Rafin. Pectoral ring cleft on its 

 ventral aspect in the middle of its length. Long and pretty thick, 

 with a greatly compressed snout that projects evenly in the plane of 

 the forehead. Five species. 



Genus VIII. Leptoichthys, Kaup. Snout very long, thin, and 

 much compressed ; extended in the same plane with the finely sha- 

 greened head. Body unusually elongated ; hexagonal, with a flat 

 back and belly without intermediate scales. All the fins large, 

 especially the caudal. Gill-opening longer than usual. One species, 

 L. Jistularius. 



Genus IX. Stigmatophora, Kaup. A pectoral fin ; no caudal. 

 Snout acutely ridged ; prolonged. Mouth turned upwards. Anal 

 fin three-rayed. Two species. 



sub-family III.— DORYRHAMPHIN.B, Kaup. 



Males with their egg-pouch on the breast and belly, not on the 

 tail. 



Genus I. Doryehamphos, Kaup. No pits on the nuchal shield. 

 Rows of spines on the snout, and two projections on its under part. 

 All the angles of the body serrated. The border of the egg-pouch 

 developing two tender membranes which completely cover the eggs. 

 Tail shorter than the body. One species, D. excisus. 



Genus II. CHbEROicnTIiYS, Kaup. Body short ; arched above 

 and below. Snout without spines or projections beneatli ; slender 

 and rising upwards near the mouth. Lateral line unusually pro- 

 jecting, and uniting with the under edge of the tail. No pits on 

 the small nuchal shield. Egg-pouches furnished with a membrane. 

 Fins not much developed. One species, Ch. Valencienni. 



Genus III. Doryichthvs, Ileck. Snout elongated, compressed, 

 spineless. Two long tliin bones near the gill-cover, joining the 

 occiput, and bounding a slit-like opening. Tail quadrangular, 

 shorter than the body ; hexangular to the end of the dorsal. Nine 

 species. 



GenusIV. Hemithylacus, Kaup. Snout exceeding the body 

 in length, with a two-edged border on its dorsal aspect, rounded 

 beneath. Body compressed. Egg-pouch of the males reaching 

 from the pectoral ring to the anus. One species, //. leiaspis. 



