SYNGNATHID^E. XLIII. 95 



d. Ventrals chiefly black, inserted midway between eye and base C. 



230. E. vinciguerrse Jordan & Meek. P. dusky, uniform or 

 with a small white cross stripe ; D. and A. without black. Head 

 4; depth 6J. Scales 48. L. 12. Atlantic, N. to Grand Banks. 

 (Eu.) (To Dr. Decio Vinciguerra, of Rome.) 



dd. Ventrals nearly white; inserted midway between opercle and tail. 



231. E. volitans L. P. dark brown, with an oblique whitish 

 band from axil to middle of fin ; D. and A. without black. Head 

 4; depth 6. D. 12. A. 11. Scales 55. L. 12. Atlantic, N. 

 to Grand Banks, frequent. (Eu.} (Lat., flying.) 



aa. Anal short, its base half to two-thirds that of dorsal, its first ray behind 

 first of D. ; anal rays 9 or 10 ; dorsal 12 to 14. (Cypselurus Swainson.) 



e. Second ray of pectoral divided (first simple); 3d and 4th longest; 



V. midway between eye and tail; P. without round black spots; 

 young with barbels. 

 /". D. and A. plain whitish ; V. pale. 



232. E. heterurus Rafinesque. P. with an oblique white band 

 on lower half. Head 4f ; depth 5J. Scales 58. L. 12. Atlantic, 

 the commonest species on our coasts. (Eu.) (Irc/wr, unequal; 

 ovpd, tail.) 



ff. D. and A. blotched or spotted with black; V. chiefly black. 



233. E. furcatus Le Sueur. P. black, with a white band ; C. 

 with 3 dusky cross-bars. Head 4; depth 5J-. Scales 46. L. 12. 

 Warm seas, N. to Cape Cod. (Eu.) (Lat., forked.) 



ee. Second ray of P. simple, like the first; V. chiefly black. 



234. E. gibbifrons Cuv. & Val. Snout more bluntly rounded 

 than in any other species, 4 in head ; V. midway between eye 

 and C. ; P. dusky, paler at base ; vertical fins plain, rather dusky. 

 Head 4 ; depth 5. Scales 46. L. 12. N. Atlantic, rare. (Lat., 

 ffibbus, swollen; frons, front.) 



ORDER XVII. LOPHOBBANCHII. (THE TUFT-GILLED 

 FISHES.) 



Gills contracted, tufted, composed of small rounded lobes, at- 

 tached to the gill-arches; pharyngeal bones reduced in number; 

 mouth very small, toothless, at the end of a tubular snout ; post- 

 temporal grown fast to skull ; anterior vertebras modified, with ex- 

 panded apophyses ; gill covers reduced to a simple plate ; skin with 

 bony plates arranged in rings; fins small. Two families, the E. 

 Indian Solenostomatidce have spinous dorsal and ventral fins ; ours 

 lack both. (Adcpor, tuft ; /Sparta, gills.) 



FAMILY XLIII. SYNGNATHIDJE. (THE PIPE-FISHES.) 



Body elongate, covered with bony rings ; gill openings reduced 

 to a small aperture behind upper part of opercle ; no spinous dor- 



