Waite and Uali; — L(iimii)i;ua\(iiiate Fishes 319 



HIPPOCAMPUS ABDOMINALIS Lesson. 



I Hfl'ocainl^iis alHloJiiiiitilis Ia'ss. in l*"crti^s;'c. IhiU. Sl'!. Xat.. xi, iSjj, ]>. [ 2J ; 

 Kaup. C'al. Loplidb., 1S56. p. 17. pi, iii. li^. 3; Dum., Hist. Nat. I'uiss., ii. 

 1870, p. 5_'4; Gimtb. Cat. Fish. ISiil. Mus., \ lii, 1S70, p. I'MJ; Mac). P.L.S., 

 iX.S.^W. vi, 1(S8t. p. 304: W'aile. I\ec. Cant. .Mus.. i, kjO", p. 15 and 191 1, p. 

 175, pi. .\\\iii; Dunck., l-"auna Sudwest Aust., 11, 1909, p. -'47; McCidi., 

 b'.ndcaviuir Res., i. i';m, p. 2<). pi. \ 1. ti.t;-. i and 2. 1914, p. 94. 



! I ippiiiiiiiihiis i/r,iciIifoniiis AlcL'ull.. FndcaNour Res., i, 191 1, p. 29, pi. \'i, I'lj^. 2. 



Fig. 54. 



D.-'S (io-31): P. 16 (14-17): .V.(4). .\nnuli 11 (13)4-47 (44-49) : sub-dursal 

 aiiiiub 4 (3-5)4-3 (5): brood annuli (1)4-5 (71, 



Snout 2-; in the head: eye 2-5 in the snuut and di) in the liead. I lead 1 7 

 in the trunk and 6 -X in the total length: tnuik 2(1 in the tail. 



Snout as long as the postnrljital portion of the head: a pair of simple su])ra- 

 nrbital spines converges Ijefore the eyes to form a \'ery short and high crest on the 

 proximal portion of the snout: narrowest interorbital space equal to half the 

 diameter of the e\e : occiput elevated, cnmijressed. with some low knolis: a 

 simple s]iine on the upper angle of the opercle and three others at e(|ual intervals 

 on the hinder margin: opercle with raiseil lines radiating from a low knol) behiml 

 ll;e e}e. llody two and one third times deeper than wide: the up|ier ridge 

 terminates below the end of the dorsal hn : caudal ridge commences on the la^l 

 second body scute and forms the upper angle of the tail, which is quadrangular 

 in section: median lateral ridge continuous with the lower caudal ridge: lower 

 ];'i«eral ridge terminates in advance of the \enl; abdomen with a keel: edges of 

 each scute raised, and produced as bhmt spines or knobs where they intersect the 

 ridges. Tail luore than twice as long as the trunk. A single male from the 

 (.Dorong 140 mm. in length. McCulloch also records two specimens from hnesti- 

 gator Strait. 



Colours. Completely bleached: a female example collected In' .Mr. llarold 

 Se.xton from Devonport. Tasmania, is JjeautifuUy marked as follows: Snout pale 

 _\ cllow, with dark, circular spots du the posterior half and (jthers almost eucircluig 

 the eye: opercles and occiput darker, the former with dark brown spots. Back of 

 iiody dark brown: sides dusky with dark brown, semicircular marks: abdominal 

 keel, spines and ridges lighter. Tail dusky, darker above, with about twelve light 

 yellow rings. Dorsal tin pale, in'egidarly mottled with dark brown. 



/-/;//'. Xew .South. Wales, \ ictoria. South Australia, and Tasmania. 



