LOPHOBRANCHII. ■' 



the proximal border of the orbit is as long as the distance from 

 thence to the extremity of the gill-plate. The body bulges at the 

 3rd, 6th and )0th rings. The tail exhibits from 6 to 10 lighter 

 cross bars on a brownish ground. 



It is not known from what country this very interesting species 

 was sent to the Berlin Museum ; but it probahly comes from 

 the Red Sea. The largest example measures rather less than 

 1 J inch in length. 



5. Hippocampus gnttulatus, Cue. 



Hippocampus guttulatus, Cuv.R. A. ii. 363. 

 Hippocampus antiquorum, Leach, MS. B.M. 

 Block, pi. 109. f. 3. 



Diagn. — Nasal protuberance spinous. All the head-spines 

 project forwards and are laterally compressed. The snout 

 measured from the fore border of the orbit is as long as the 

 distance from thence to the spine on the upper border of 

 the gill-plate. A black band traverses the entire dorsal 

 tin. 



Descr. — The spines and knobs furnished with filaments, 

 mostly simple, rarely forked. Some show whitish specks and 

 cross lines on a dark ground, others are merely speckled, and 

 some few have a clouded freckling between the more prominent 

 body-rings. In some the dorsal tin is black, in others it has a, 

 black bar at the end only. In the Leyden collection I saw a 

 full-grown female which had twelve body-rings and a longer 

 snout ; the supplementary ring being situated under the dorsal 

 tin, which stands on the 3rd and 4th rings. In all other respects 

 it agrees with other individuals, and cannot be considered as 

 anytbing more than a highly interesting variety. 



A female from the Mauritius belongs to the Berlin Museum. 

 Five specimens from Gambia, received from Dr. Smith, exist in 

 the British Museum, and there is a great number in Paris, 

 Leyden, and other collections. Though I have seen a vast num- 

 ber of examples, none of them had traces of the rostral fila- 

 ments which characterize the next succeeding species. 



The Berlin Museum possesses a female specimen from the 

 Brazils, sent by M. Oilers. It exhibits no filaments on the 

 spines of the head, the dorsal angles of the third ring stand near 

 together, and the other knobs are less prominent than in other 

 individuals of the same size. It appears therefore from these 

 notices of habitats that this species is very widely spread through 

 the world. 



b 5 



