THE SNAKE PIPE-FISH. 399 



nearly a middle position in the entire length, the distance from the 

 last ray to the end of the tail, at the same time, a little exceeding that 

 from the end of the snout to the commencement of the fin ; vent a 

 very little before the middle, being nearly in a vertical line with the 

 commencement of the last quarter of the dorsal fin ; tail compressed 

 at the extremity, shewing a very small rudimentary caudal fin ; the 

 rays, however, so obsolete, and so much enveloped in the common 

 skin, as to be scarcely distinguishable. (Colours) Yellowish, with 

 transverse pale lines, with dark margins, one in each joint, and ano- 

 ther down the middle of each plate, giving it the appearance of pos- 

 sessing double the number of joints it really has ; these markings, 

 however, cease, just beyond the vent." Number of fin rays — 

 " D about 40 ; A. ; CO? P. 0." Jenyns. 



This fish was first recorded as British by Sir Robert Sib- 

 bald, who obtained a specimen in the Firth of Forth prior 

 to the year 1 685. No other instance of its occurrence in that 

 locality has since been noticed. It has been procured in 

 Berwick Bay by Dr Johnstone, on the Devonshire coast 

 by Colonel Montagu, and on that of Cornwall by Mr Couch- 

 It is one of the rarest of our British Fishes. 



Syngnathus ophidion.* — The Snake Pipe-Fish. 



Specific Characters — Pectoral fins wanting ; caudal obsolete ; dor- 

 sal and vent before the middle of the entire length. 



Description. — From a specimen fifteen inches in length ; head 

 one-eleventh of the entire length; body elongated and slender; back 

 nearly flat ; abdominal ridge acute, also with three slight ridges on 

 each side ; hence the trunk from the gill to the vent is heptangu- 

 lar, and of a uniform thickness, behind the vent the body tapers, 

 and is somewhat quadrangular, becoming quite round near the ex- 

 tremity of the tail, the tip of which is compressed into a very minute 

 rudimentary caudal fin. Colourof the back and side yellowish-brown, 

 with transverse pale lines with dark margins, one in each joint, and 

 another down the middle of each plate, giving it the appearance of 

 possessing double the number of joints it really has, precisely simi- 

 lar to the markings of the JEquoreal Pipe-Fish as described by Mon- 

 tagu ; these markings cease behind the termination of the dorsal fin, 

 nor do not pass completely round the trunk, but become lost on 



ictorum. 



