148 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 
minulis : fronte declivi, in descensu sinuato: vostro brevi, gracillimo, subcylindrico : 
pinnd dorsali paulo ante medium longitudinis desinenti: ano infra radium primum 
dorsalem sito: pinnis pectoralibus parvis, anali minutissimd ; caudali distinctd. 
Distt AL SE ICr10 =P. it. 
Lone. unc. 4. lin. 7. 
Form.—Body rather thick and somewhat cylindrical; the greatest depth and thickness nearly equal, 
the former being about one-twenty-seventh of the entire length From the head to the vent 
hexagonal, the middle lateral ridges terminating abruptly, when opposite the commencement of 
the dorsal fin, without inclining either upwards or downwards. Fifteen transverse plates 
between the gills and the dorsal fin: only fifty-four in all, the tail not tapering so much as in 
many other species. Head much pinched in at the gills, but rather full and protuberant about 
the cheeks: its length ten and a half times in the entire length. Crown high and convex: a 
ridge commencing at the occiput passes backward to the nape. Eyes large and full, with 
somewhat of a spectacled appearance; their diameter equal to the whole depth of that part of 
the head ; the orbits rising in ridges above them, with the intervening space concave. From 
between the eyes the profile descends in a sinuous curve to the base of the snout, which 
is short, slender, very narrow, and almost cylindrical. The length of the snout is less than half 
the entire length of the head; its breadth, vertically, only one-third the depth of the same 
taken behind the eyes. 
The dorsal commences beyond one-third of the entire length, occupies one-ninth of the 
same, and terminates a little before the middle: nearly even, and rather high, more than 
equalling the depth of the body underneath. Vent about underneath the first ray, but almost 
in advance of the dorsal fin altogether. Anal extremely minute. Pectorals very small. 
Caudal rays distinct. 
Cotour.—Trunk greyish-brown, with deep brown interrupted transverse fascia. In front of the 
dorsal, the fascize terminate at the middle lateral ridge, below which the sides are spotted. 
Dorsal fin also a little spotted. Cheeks whitish, with two very distinct narrow longitudinal 
vittae extending backwards from the eyes to the posterior part of the opercle. 
Habitat, Tahiti. 
A well-marked species, and apparently undescribed. The only specimen in 
the collection is a female, and, like the last, perhaps not full-sized. 
3. SYNGNATHUS CRINITUS. Jen. 
Piate XXVII. fig. 5. 
S. griseus; ventre, et maculé operculari, nigricantibus: corpore crassiore, antice 
heptagono, postice quadrangulo, angulis acutis: vertice parum elevato; cristis occi- 
pitali et nuchali distinctis: rostro brevissimo, subcylindrico, capite angustiore, pos- 
tice supra carinato, apice subrecurvo: cirris duobus, minutis, filamentosis, palpe- 
bralibus : pinnd dorsali paulo ante medium longitudinis desinente ; ano infra initium 
ejus sito: pinnis pectoralibus et caudali parvis ; anali nulld. 
Longe. unc. 3. lin. 5. 
