FISHES 1347 



tail, and we may form a rough idea of the general 

 appearance of one of the sea-horses. This little body 

 we shall find to be covered with ganoid plates or 

 scales of hard horny or bony material, exhibiting 

 ridges and angles all over its surface. Two large 

 brilliant eyes, each of which may be moved inde- 

 pendently of the other, add to the curious appearance 

 of the head ; while to the body itself may be attached 

 long streamers of sea-weed, serving to conceal the 

 little beings as they nestle amid their marine bowers, 

 each looking like some veritable creation of heraldic 

 or mythological kind. 



The flexible tail which terminates the body has 

 the important office of mooring or attaching the 

 fishes to any fixed object. As we see them in the aqua- 

 rium, they are generally poised, as it were, on the 

 tail ; the latter being coiled around a bit of sea-weed, 

 while the erect body and head look warily through 

 the waters of their miniature sea. When they de- 

 tach themselves, they swim about in the erect po- 

 sition by means of the two pectoral or breast fins, 

 which being placed close to the sides of the neck, 

 project like veritable ears, and assist in rendering the 

 equine appearance of the head of still more realistic 

 nature. These fins move with a quick twittering mo- 

 tion, and propel their possessor swiftly through the 

 water; while the back-fin, placed toward the hinder 

 extremity of the body, also assists them in swimming. 



Some curious points in the internal structure of 

 the sea-horses warrant a brief notice. As already 

 stated, the gills of an ordinary fish are shaped each 

 like a comb; the teeth of the comb being represented 



