Order x. LophobranchH. 



The Lophobranchs. 



Body elongate, covered with bony plates, which are firmly con- 

 nected forming a carapace; gills tufted, composed of small, 

 rounded lobes attached to the gill arches; gill openings small; snout 

 produced, bearing the small, toothless mouth at its end; pectoral 

 fins elevated ; ventrals wanting. An interesting group of small fishes 

 found in warm seas. 



Family XIII. Syiigiiathiclse. 



The Pipe Fishes. 



Body elongate, usually slender, covered with bony plates, which 

 are firmly connected; head slender, the snout long, tube-like, bearing 

 the short, toothless jaws at the end; gill openings small; tail long, 

 provided with a small caudal fin; males with an egg pouch usually 

 placed on the underside of the tail, sometimes on the abdomen; 

 dorsal fin single, nearly median, of soft rays only; pectorals small or 

 wanting; ventrals none; anal fin small. 



The egg pouch of the male is formed of two folds of skin which 

 meet on the median line of the ventral surface. The eggs are received 

 into this pouch and retained until sometime after hatching, when the 

 pouch opens and the young fishes escape. Very few species of this 

 family are found in fresh water. 



65. Siphostoma Rafinesque. 



Siphostoma Rafinesque, Caratteri Nuovi Generi, 18, 1810. (Type, 

 Sygnathus pelagicus Osbeck.) 



Body elongate, very slender, 6 or 7 angled, not compressed, 

 tapering into a very long tail ; the dorsal keels of the trunk not con- 

 tinuous with those of the tail; snout long and slender; jaws short and 

 toothless; caudal fin present, small; pectorals present, short and 

 broad; ventrals none; anal small; the females deeper than the males, 

 with a more robust trunk and a more distinct ventral keel. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES OF SIPHOSTOMA. 



a. Tail shorter than the body; body rings 194-24; page 



dorsal rays 44 brevicauda 1 63 



aa. Tail twice as long as the body; body rings 



14 + 37 or ^8; dorsal rays 38 starksi 163 



162 



