66 LOPHOBRANCHII. 



Descr. — A greatly elongated species having a long slender 

 tail. Body feebly octangular. Head constituting one-eleventh 

 of the whole length. Body-rings 28; caudal rings 64 or 65. 

 Dorsal fin supported by 38 rays on 12 rings. Caudal fin having 

 5 rays. The males carry two rows of eggs. The colour is a 

 uniform olive-green, the eyes being red. It has been taken on 

 the Irish coast, between Brownsey and North Haven, and also 

 in the North Sea and Mediterranean. The British Museum con- 

 tains a specimen in spirits taken on the coast of Dorsetshire, 

 and another caught off Berwick. A great many exist in the 

 Paris Museum. 



2. Nerophis Heckeli, Kj). 



Dingn. — At the first glance this fish appears to be trigonal ; 

 but the two lateral lines, the acutely-ridged back, and the 

 keeled belly render the body really octangular. 



Descr. — The specimen in the Vienna Museum resembles an- 

 guineus, but the body is more slim, very thin at the broadest part, 

 which is from the 17th to the 29th body-ring. Measured from 

 the fore border of the orbit, the snout is as long as the distance 

 between the same spot and the extremity of the gill-cover. Both 

 the snout and the deep forehead are keeled. The gill-cover 

 and hind-head are finely streaked. Of the 10 rings on which 

 the dorsal fin stands, three belong to the body. This fin has 38 

 or 39 rays, the caudal 5. There are 28 body-rings and 67 caudal 

 ones. Length of the fish 9"34 inches, of tail 4 - 93 inches, of 

 head 0"75 inch. 



The only specimen known to me is a female one in the Vienna 

 Museum brought from Bogota. 



3. NeropMs aequoreus. 



Syngnathus fcquoreus, Linn. Syst. i. p. 417. 

 Montagu, Wern. Mem. i. p. 85. t. 4. f. 1. 

 Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. p. 188. 

 Yarrell, Brit. Fishes, p. 442, a figure. 

 Fries in Wiegm. Arch. 1838, p. 246. t. 11. f. 3 (the head). 



Diagn. — Length of the snout from the front of the orbit equal 

 to the distance from thence to the extremity of the gill- 

 cover. Forehead convex between the eyes. Caudal fin 

 short and abrupt, of six rays. 



Descr. — The handsomest and biggest species, attaining a 



