172 



FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



Genus HIPPOCAMPUS Rafinesque. Sea-horses, 



The sea-horses are singular creatures which depart greatly from the popular 

 idea of the conventional fish; their head and neck bear a striking resemblance to 

 a horse's; the fish move through the water in an erect position; and when resting 

 they usually curl their prehensile tail about a bit of seaweed or blade of grass. 

 Additional interest attaches to these fishes because the male fish receives the eggs 

 in a pouch and carries them until they are hatched, and the young occupy the 

 pouchuntiltheyareof considerable size, going out in search of food and returning 

 for shelter. The sea-horses are dried and sold as curiosities, becoming familiar 

 objects in all parts of the country. The body is much compressed, and just 

 back of the dorsal fin tapers abruptly to along, angular, flexible tail; the belly 

 protrudes; the head is set at right angles to the body, and is separated therefrom 

 by a constricted, arched neck; a compressed occipital crest is surmounted by a 

 star-shaped process; the trunk and tail are completely encased in bony plates 

 which have 6 spines on the body and 4 on the tail, and form rings; the head is 

 more or less thickly beset with spinous processes; the male has an egg-pouch at 

 the base of the tail, in the median line; the dorsal fin, of moderate size, is placed 

 about the middle of the back, opposite the vent; the anal fin is very small; the 

 caudal fin is deficient; the pectoral fins are short and broad. Many species, 

 none of large size, exist in warmer waters of all parts of the world. Two are 

 known from our Atlantic coast which may be thus distinguished: 



i. Dorsal rays 19, covering 3.5 trunk rings and no caudal rings; color, ashy or brown, some- 

 times with sharply marked pale blotches but no spots . hitdsonius. 



ii. Dorsal rays 17 or 18, covering 1.5 trunk rings and 2 caudal rings; color, dark brown with 

 dark marbling and numerous light blue spots punctulatus. 



(Hippocampus, the ancient Greek name for the sea-horse.) 





Fig. 67. Sea-horse. Hippocampus hudsonius. 



149. HIPPOCAMPUS HUDSONIUS DeKay. 

 Sea-horse; Horse-fish. 



Hippocampus hudsonius DeKay, New York Fauna, Fishes, 322, pi. 53, fig. 171, 1842; New York. Yarrow, 



1877, 204; Beaufort. .Jordan & Evermann, 189G, 777, pi. cxxi, fig. 327. 

 Hippocampus antiquorum, Jordan & Gilbert, 1879, 367; Beaufort. Jordan, 1886, 30; Beaufort. Jordan & 



Gilbert, Synopsis of the Fishes of North America, 1883, 907; Beaufort. Wilson, 1900, 355; Beaufort. 



