CATALOGUE OF FISH. 



Order I. LOPHOBRANCHII, Cmier. 



The gills, composed of small round tufts seated on the branchial 

 arches, are so well hidden by the gill-cover (operculum) that only 

 a small entrance to them is left in the membrane between the 

 operculum and breast-ring. The nearly fleshless body is pro- 

 tected by bony rings. In most of the species the males perform 

 the function of hatching the eggs, which for that purpose are 

 deposited up to the time of the evolution of the young, either 

 between the ventrals [Solenostomus^, or in tail-pouches [Hippo- 

 campus], or in pouches on the breast and belly \_Doryrhamphus], 

 or in rows on the breast and belly [Nerophis], and are thus 

 carried about by the fish. The egg-pouches may be compared 

 to birds' nests, or to the skin-fold in which the Wandering Pen- 

 guin \_Aptenodytes Patagonicus] transports its egg; and remind 

 one of the Marsupials among the Mammals. 



Fam. 1. Solenostomidse, Kaup. 



Breast and belly distinctly separated. Mouth perforating the 

 end of a long, compressed, leaf-like snout. The gills, which 

 are covered as in other fish by a cutaneous gill-plate, are wholly 

 exposed when the plate is raised. 



