SYNGNATHUS. 



765 



the body is hexangular, the ridge on the abdomen 

 being discontinued ; thence to the end of the tail 

 sloping, slender, and quadrangular, with a series of 

 forty-four plates ; the pectoral fins are small ; the 

 dorsal fin commences at two-fifths the length of the 

 fish, and in a vertical line rather before the anal aper- 

 ture ; the largest rays are not equal in height to the 

 depth of the body ; the anal fin very small ; the tail 

 rounded and fan-shaped ; there are forty rays in the 

 dorsal fin ; twelve in each of the pectorals, four in 

 the anal, and ten in the caudal. The prevailing 

 colour is pale brown, transversely barred with 

 darker. It appears from the statements of the various 

 authorities, that the numbers of rays in the fins are 

 not quite constant. The colour also differs. It is 

 always rather lighter* on the under side of the 

 fish than on the upper, and in some specimens it is 

 whitish. 



Deep nosed Pipe-fish (Tylphc}. This species be- 

 longs to the same section as the one already described ; 

 and its economy seems to be very nearly the same. It 

 has pectoral, dorsal, anal, and caudal fins, and the male 

 has the same kind of abdominal pouch for receiving 

 the eggs when they are discharged by the female. 

 As a British fish it is found on the same grounds as 

 the other, and is not rare on many parts of the south 

 coast, though we believe it is not found in so many 

 localities as the other. It is usually found in the sea- 

 weed, or in the water near it, where the depth does 

 not much exceed two fathoms. 



It is easily distinguished from the former species 

 both by its form and its colour. The pipe and mouth 

 are much deeper in proportion, being nearly the same 

 as the head, the outlines of which pass into those of 

 the pipe without any angles or curves. It is also 

 larger in proportion to the whole length of the fish ; 

 and it is considerably enlarged just at the end. Mr. 

 Yarrell, who is by far our best authority respecting it 

 as a British fish, says, " The whole length of the largest 

 specimen which I have seen, is thirteen inches ; from 

 thejpoint.of the closed jaws to the posteror end of the 

 indurated portion of the operculum the distance, com- 

 pared with the whole length of the fish, as one to six ; 

 the head larger than in S. acu,i, and without the ele- 

 vated ridge on the top of it ; the distance from the 

 point of the upper jaw to the projecting tubercle in 

 front of the eye, and thence to the end of the pectoral 

 fin, are equal ; the united jaws are very much com- 

 pressed, and nearly as deep as the head, only slightly 

 inclining to a slope in front ,of the eyes ; the body 

 hexangular, the middle lateral angle on each side be- 

 coming the upper angles of this i quadrangular tail at 

 the end of the dorsal fin. The fin commences fur- 

 ther back than in S. acus, the middle of the dorsal fin 

 being nearly the middle of the whole length of the 

 fish ; the series of indurated plates between the shoul- 

 der and the vent includes eighteen, thence to the end 

 of the tail about thirty-seven, but both series are lia- 

 ble to a little variation in the numbers of the plates ; 

 the abdomen is almost rounded ; the anal fin minute ; 

 the caudal fin pointed ; the two central rays the longest, 

 the others graduated. Fin-rays Dorsal thirty-nine, 

 pectoral fifteen, anal three, and caudal ten. The 

 prevailing colour is olive green mottled with yellow 

 brown and yellowish white. 



Some other Species having caudal fins have at time 

 been described us British ; but the probability is that 

 they have been cither one or the other of these. The 

 early period of life at which these fishes are capable 



of breeding, renders them liable to many mistakes as 

 to the species of these fishes. Indeed their whole 

 character is so full of anomalies, that nothing can w'th 

 safety be stated respecting them, unless it is borne 

 out by the facts as established by the most careful 

 observers. 



2. Syngnathi, with a dorsal fin only. The species 

 Acus which we first noticed, has sometimes been cal- 

 led the " Sea Adder," but these of the section which 

 we are now to notice, have much more of a snake-like 

 shape, in consequence of the absence of all the body 

 fins answering to the extremities of ordinary vertebra- 

 ted animals, and also the caudal fin. They of course 

 swim by means of the flexures of the body, as the 

 dorsal fin is not a propelling organ, but merely a 

 steadying one, by means of which the effect of the 

 portion of the body behind it is increased. The males 

 in none of the species of this section have subcaudal 

 pouches for the reception of the eggs, but still they 

 hatch them on the same principle as the others, 

 though not exactly in the same way. They are 

 placed upon the abdomen of the male before the vent, 

 each being lodged in a separate depression which is 

 in the form of a segment of a hollow sphere ; and to 

 this the egg is glued by its own gelatinous capsule 

 until the young fish is matured. The eggs of these 

 of the former section, are also each lodged in a de- 

 pression, or made to adhere to it, and not left loose in 

 the pouch with only the protection of the two leaves 

 that close it. This is also the case in the marsupial 

 mammalia ; for when the young are transferred to that 

 abode in a rude and formless state, each adheres to 

 its teat independently of the pouch, and the pouch is 

 only an additional protection. In the marsupial ani- 

 mals, we believe there is a relation between the deve- 

 lopement of the parent and that of the young when 

 discharged from the internal uterus, these being 

 always nearer its maturity in those species that have 

 the pouch the least developed. We are not aware 

 whether the two sections of the pipe-fish follow the 

 same law, and whether the eggs remain a shorter time 

 attached to the male than in those with the pouch, 

 but it is probable ; we are certain that the young of 

 the pouchless ones can find no place of security in the 

 body of their parent, after once they come out of the 

 egg. The difference of time, if any, in the hatching 

 of the eggs of the two sections, is a point well worthy 

 of being ascertained, as a sort of connecting link in 

 one of the most obscure portions of physiology. The 

 eggs of these fishes are not the only ones that are 

 hatched in depressions on the body of the parent 

 animals ; for the eggs of the Surinam toad are 

 hatched in the same manner, only it is on the back of 

 the female, the intermediate parts of which swell up 

 and form lodgments for the eggs as long as it is ne- 

 cessary for them to be there. To what extent the 

 integuments of the abdomen of the males of these 

 pipe fishes swell up so as to afford a protecting lodg- 

 ment for their eggs, has not been observed, or, if obser- 

 ved, not stated. 



One cannot help being struck with the beautiful 

 provision of nature in the place and mode in which 

 the eggs of the two sections of pipe-fishes are hatched; 

 as well as with the different forms of the tails as ma- 

 king part of this provision. The tail of a fish from 

 the dorsal fin backwards, is the portion of it which has 

 the most severe action in swimming ; and if there is 

 no caudal fin, more motion of the tail would be neces- 

 sary to give the same impulse to the body than where 



