LOPHOBRANCHII ; FAMILY SYNGNATHID/E, OR TIPE-FISIIES. 47 



placed fnr back; there is little flesh ; but the liver is large, and 

 abounds in oil. The surface is often armed with spines. No 

 sprcies of th( se singular Fish are known in the British seas. 



B. LOPHOBRANCHIT. 



606. This small group is separated from all other Osseous 

 Fishes by the structure of the gills ; which, instead of hanging 

 from the branchial arches in fringes of parallel fibres, disposed 

 like the teeth of a comb, are set upon them in small round tufts, 

 arranged in pairs. From this peculiar conformation, its name, 

 which signifies tuft-gillcd, is derived. The gills are defended by 

 a large operculum, which is attached by a membranous covering 

 on all sides, except at one part where a small hole is left for the 

 escape of the water. These fishes are also distinguished by 

 having their body covered with shields or small plates, which 

 often give it an angular form. In general they are of small 

 size, and often without flesh. They form only a single family, 

 that of the SYNGNATHID^E, or Pipe Fishes. They do not present 

 many points of general interest ; but there are certain peculiar- 

 ities in their organisation, which are very interesting to the 

 Naturalist. In the Syngnathus, or Pipe Fish, which has a pro- 

 longed muzzle like that of the Fistulariae ( 607), the eggs are 

 not deposited as in other Fishes, but are conveyed into a sort of 

 pouch, formed by a doubling of the skin under the body of the 

 male ; this pouch is under the abdomen in some species, and at 

 the base of the tail in others. In this pouch the eggs become 

 matured ; and when the fry are ready to escape, it opens and 

 allows them to pass out. This contrivance reminds us of the 

 pouch of the Marsupial Mammalia ; but there is this striking 

 difference, that in the latter it is the Female which affords this 

 protection to the young, whilst in the Pipe Fishes it is the Male. 

 It has been asserted that, even after the young have quitted the 

 pouch, they will return to it again ; and that the parent shows 

 great attachment to them. The Hippocampus (Fig. 359} has a 

 prehensile tail, unfurnished with any finny expansion ; and is 



