NO. 1431. BREEDING HABITS AND EGG OF PIPEFISH— GUDGER. 459 



mounts and sections, and its only explanation seems to be that it is an 

 embryonic structure comparable to what Fries described for S. luiii- 

 hrldformis in 1838. Ehrenbaum and Stradtmann (1904:, fig-. 7) tigure 

 a larva of Cliipea sprattus, l-l to 18 mm. long-, having on the ventral 

 surface of the tail from the anus to the caudal a delicate membrane, 

 the counterpart of that found on S. jiorida'. 



One is at a loss, in view of Ryder's acquaintance with the pipetishes 

 a-nd his presumed knowledge of the literature, to understand why he 

 should write in 1887: "The eggs of Si2)hmtoma are developed under 

 a pair of integumentary folds * * * developed on the under side 

 of the tail of the female.^'' However, in this same paper he refutes 

 McMurrich's error as to the anal tin of S. fuscuni. 



There is nothing in W. A. Smith's (1887) paper that need detain us. 

 He theorizes as to the origin of the elongated jaw apparatus, and his 

 statement that the young retreat into the pouch is seemingly an echo 

 of Eckstroem. 



Lilljeborg (1891) thinks that fertilization takes place in S. typhle 

 at the time of transfer, since the male genital opening is inside the 

 anterior end of the pouch. He notes that breeding females are very 

 much larger than the males, and thinks that the mucus fastening the 

 eggs to the belly of SyDgnathus or NeropJiis ophidlon is secreted by 

 both parents at the time the eggs are deposited, and that several trans- 

 fers are made. 



In 1900, Duncker published an interesting and valuable paper on the 

 habits of the Lophobranchs, and though this does not strictly come 

 within the scope of this chapter, still it may be not uninteresting to 

 summarize it here. 



Duncker says that the Syngnathidge swim almost exclusively with 

 the dorsal, but when excited may use the caudal. "In free swimming 

 this (the caudal) is almost useless, and never takes the place of tin 

 action.'' He describes the 8-shaped tigure made by the dorsal, and 

 characterizes the caudal as a "rudder" merely. S. jioridix, stands 

 vertically in the water and slowly propels itself by its dorsal tin, the 

 pectorals being used merely to maintain its perpendicular position; 

 but when frightened or when it wishes to go from one place to another 

 it throws itself into a horizontal position and glides with great rapidity 

 with sinuous right and left lashings of its tail, at which times its 

 resemblance to a serpent or an eel is very marked. In this connection 

 it is worthy of note that the onl}^ other lishes which are known to 

 swim in a vertical position are Am.pldoxus according to Parker and 

 Haswell, Lorlearia according to Noll, and Centriscus {Aonphisile) 

 according to Willey. Duncker's observations were proba))ly made 

 on fishes in small aquaria; those on 8. florid^' were on specimens in 

 an 8-foot tank and in the waters of the harbor at Beaufort. 



Duncker quotes Heincke as to the immunity of these fishes from 



