176 FISHES. OSSEOUS. Syngnathus. 



adds), which we have examined, the snout is large, broad, and subcompressed 

 on the sides. It passes from the crown of the head, which is flat, to the 

 mouth, in a straight line, or with very little sinuosity ; instead of which, in 

 Acus, the outline from the nape over the crown of the head, rises conspicu- 

 ously, then takes a curvature over the eye, and slopes considerably over the 

 base of the snout." Dorsal-fin 41, pectoral 12, anal 3, and caudal 12 rayed. 



h b No anal fin. 



36. S. pelagicus. — Body linear, heptangular. 



Linn. Syst. i. 416. Don. Brit. Fishes, tab. 58 — Caught in the winter 

 season, among sprats, on the English coast. 

 Length about 6 inches. Body brown, with transverse dark bands. Dorsal 

 fin 23, pectoral 14, and caudal 10 rayed. Donovan first recorded tliis species 

 native of the British Seas. 



a a No caudal or anal fin. 



37. S. barbarus — Body hexangular ; tail quadrangular. 



Linn. Syst. i. 417. Penn- Brit- Zool. iii. 138. Loiv, Hist. Ork. 179.— 

 Not uncommon. 

 Length about a foot. Colour olive-brown, with numerous transverse bluish 

 lines. Snout compressed. Angles of the body blunt. Dorsal-fin 40, pecto- 

 ral 12, rayed. 



II. Destitute of' pectoral, anal, or caudal Jins. 



38. S. tkquoreus. — Snout long. Body octangidar ; the dor- 

 sal and ventral ridges acute. 



Acus nostras cauda serpentina, Sibb. Scot. 24. tab. xix. Syn. aeq. Linn. 

 Syst. i. 417. Mont. Wem. Mem. i. 85. tab. iv. £ 1.— Rare. 

 Length upwards of 20 inches. Colour yellowish, with transverse pale lines. 

 From the head to the vent of equal size ; from the vent to the tail tapering 

 and round. Three-fourths of the dorsal-fin before the ventral aperture ; of 

 40 rays. — This species, obviously pointed out by Sibbald as an inhabitant of 

 the Frith of Forth, was more clearly characterized by INIontagu from speci- 

 mens taken at Salcomb. 



39. S. Ophidion. — Snout short. Body round. Skin smooth. 

 Acui Aristotelis congener pisciculus, Will. Ich. 160. — S. oph. Linn. Syst. 



i. 417. — Little Pipe-Fish, Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 141. — Not uncommon. 

 Length about 5 inches. Colour olive. Snout short. The lower jaw turns 

 suddenly up, with a protuberance at the bend. — The other species of pipe fish 

 hatch their young internally, and they escape by the rending of the skin of 

 the belly ; but, in this species, the eggs, which are yellow, are excluded, ar- 

 ranged in rows, and attached externally to a long groove in the belly. 



According to information conununicated to Mr Pennant, the Hippocampus 

 vulgaris has been found on the southern shores of the kingdom — Brit. Zool. 

 iii. 141. 



