ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN" 



SNAKE PIPEFISH WITH CURLED TAIL 



From Couch's History of the Fishes of the British Islands 



tions, almost invariably accompanied, however, 

 by the statement that pipefishes do not have pre- 

 hensile tails. 



Francis Day, in The Fishes of Great Britain 

 and Ireland, states that the tails of pipefishes 

 are not prehensile, yet he quotes Couch as say- 

 ing that the ocean pipefish (Xcrophis aequo- 

 reus), also called snake pipefish, shorter pipe- 

 fish and painted sea adder, sometimes rise to 

 the surface in the summer months and bask in 

 the sun, retaining their position "by clasping 

 with their tail cords, buoys of crab-pots, sea- 

 weeds, sticks or floating substances." He quotes 

 Ogilby, who recorded the capture of pipefishes 

 of this species at Portrush, where they were 

 taken in open network lobster pots, to which 

 they "were invariably found clinging with the 

 ends of their tails curled once or twice round 

 the network." He also quotes Andrews, who 

 says that these pipefishes, when the sea is calm, 

 "may be seen side by side, clinging with their 

 tails to the tufts of Zostera marina" (sea grass). 

 In this position the male is better able to place 

 the eggs in his brood pouch. 



The breeding habits of pipefishes are some- 

 what similar to those of sea horses, the male of 

 most species carrying 

 the eggs ; but in some of 

 the pipefishes the egg 

 pouch is a mere groove, 

 formed of cutaneous 

 folds situated on the 

 tail, instead of being a 

 stout sac at the base of 

 the abdomen, as in the 

 sea horse. In these cu- 

 taneous folds of the 

 male snake pipefish, the 

 skin is raised like a 

 minute cup around each of the eggs, thus hold- 

 ing them firmly in place, and it is said they 

 are very difficult to dislodge. 



Jonathan Couch, in a History of the Fishes of 

 the British Islands, figures a snake pipefish 

 { Si/ngnatliiis ophidion) with a curled tail, and 

 says it has a "slender and prehensile tail" with 

 which it lays hold of loose and floating objects. 

 Colors of pipefishes vary — yellow, brown, red, 

 black and green predominating, with mixtures 

 of these colors, and some are capable of a 

 change of color to match their environment. 

 They are preyed upon by large fishes, the 

 pollack being a particularly insatiable enemy, 

 and protective form and color are consequently 

 of great benefit in preserving the species. 



Finally to settle the question of prehensility 

 in pipefishes' tails, we corresponded with some 

 Australian authorities. Through the courtesy 

 of Mr. R. Etheridge, Director of the Australian 

 Museum at Sydney (to whom our inquiry on 

 the subject, in which we quoted Wallace, was 

 forwarded by Prof. Sir Baldwin Spencer, direc- 

 tor of the National Museum at Melbourne), we 

 are in receipt of a photograph taken by Mr. A. R. 

 McCulloch, zoologist, of the Australian Museum, 

 the leading authority on Australian fishes. This 

 picture, here reproduced, shows some common 

 Australian pipefishes (Stigmatopora argus) 

 clinging to their favorite sea grass {Zostera). 



The close study of 

 the picture that is re- 

 quired to determine 

 which of the slender 

 bodies represents a 

 pipefish and which a 

 blade of sea grass, gives 

 one a fuller under- 

 standing of the protec- 

 tion this little fish finds 

 in its curious resem- 

 blance, both in form 

 and color, to the green 

 sea growth that it inhabits. Mr. Etheridge. 

 moreover, imparts the following interesting in- 

 formation: 



