CHAPTER LVI 



THE ORDER OF PIPE-FISHES AND SEA-HORSES 



LOPIIOBRANCIII 



At the foot of the Subclass of Bony Fishes, 

 stand certain small creatures, each of which is so 

 fantastic in form that it requires to be introduced 

 with the solemn assurance, "This is a fish! " At 

 first glance, any one wholly unaccjuainted with 

 them might from their hard external shells be 

 inclined to regard them as particularly odd crus- 

 taceans; but the presence of tiny fins without, 

 and skeletons more or less bony within, place 

 them fairly within the confines of the Bony Fishes. 



The Great Pipe-Fish' is a long, 

 slender stalk of jointed bone, with 

 queer little fins very far apart, and 

 a head that terminates in a long, hol- 

 low tube. But for this very tough and 

 persistent bony armor, other small 

 fishes would devour the Pipe-Fishes, 

 bit by bit, as children bite off sticks 

 of candy. Its armor is so stiff, liow- 

 e^■er, that the wearer moves slowly 

 and with difficulty, and the prey usually 

 sought by this fish is found very small 

 and weak, hiamg in the branches of 

 sea-weed, coral clusters, sponges, and 

 the sea-grasses generally. It was for 

 insertion into such hunting-grounds as 

 these that the long, tubular snout of 

 this fish has been developed. 



The Pipe-Fishes swim in a half ver- 

 tical position, as if literally leading up 

 to the introduction of the next species, 

 which swims bolt upright in the water, and 

 fairly caps the climax in fishes. All the Pipe- 

 Fishes are small creatures. Our largest species 

 is found on the Pacific coast, and "reaches a 

 length of 1(S inches." (Jordan and Evermann.) 

 There exists in North American waters about 

 thirty species. 



The Sea-Horse'' bears not the faintest resem- 



blance to a typical fish, and is the strangest-look- 

 ing creature of the whole fish world. It looks 

 hke a Chinese dragon, reduced about a thousand 

 diameters. Its minute pectoral fins are so in- 

 conspicuous they are at first quite unnoticed, and 

 the fan-shaped dorsal fin seems when in action 

 like a stationary fan with which the outlandish 

 creature frequently tries to fan itself. 



At all times the Sea-Horse swims in a perpen- 

 dicular attitude, and with its prehensile tail it 



' Si/ng-na'thus a'ciis. 



^ Hip-po-cam-pvs hep-tag' o-nus. 



1. CHEAT PIPE-PISH. 



2. THE SE.\-HORSE. 



holds itself stationary by grasping any inanimate 

 object that either grows upon the bottom or 

 floats in the water. Like the pipe-fish, it is com- 

 pletely encased in a strong suit of bony plate- 

 armor. The average aquarium Sea-Horse is sel- 

 dom more than 4 inches in length, but the Gigan- 

 tic species (H. ingens) of the Pacific coast "reaches 

 a length of nearly a foot." (.T. & E.) The small- 

 est species, found abundantly about Pensacola, is 

 only 2 inches long. 

 433 



