ICHTHYOLOGY. 



Genus— SYNGNATHUS, or HIPPOCAMPUS. 

 Species— FOLIATUS. 



Character. — Animal having a head formed like a Horse, 

 the body jointed like armour, the fins placed on 

 a pedicle irregular in their number, and position, 

 no caudal or terminating fin to the tail. 



THE Hippocampus, or Sea-horse, has been always 

 placed by the most eminent Naturalists with the Syngnathus, 

 which last is to be considered more strictly as a fish, than 

 the former, which is without a caudal or tail-fin. If we 

 were to speak with more exactitude we might, not im- 

 properly, describe the Hippocampus as a marine insect, 

 forming a distinct tribe by themselves. They have a sin- 

 gular resemblance in their head and neck to a Horse, and 

 the tail may be compared in some degree to the idea which, 

 we have of a Mermaid, the nose consists of a long trunk 

 and the mouth is small and placed at tire end, the body 

 is not covered with scales, but with a jointed kind of 

 armour, which is divided into pentagonal plates on the 

 back and sides, the tail is pointed at the end and divided 

 in a similar manner. In the specimen before us the fins 

 are shaped like leaves and are placed upon a membranaceous 

 projecting base or prop, two and two ; there is also a crest 

 on the top of the head, and a single fin standing upon 

 the neck; but the most remarkable fin is that which is 

 placed on the back, as it is of a different form to the 

 others, being oblong and placed near the commencement 

 of the tail. This singular animal is a native of Botany 

 Bay and is found in the seas adjacent to that curious 

 country, it feeds in the shallow bays and coasts upon small 



