Syngnathus. gangetic fishes. 11 



This fish in form is conical, compressed, and on the back 

 and belly has a space surrounded by a margin, that contains 

 undivided prickles capable of being retracted. When inflated, 

 the belly forms a considerable segment of a sphere. The 

 colour is olive above, and white below, with a golden gloss on 

 the sides. 



The head is very large, and very blunt at the nose. The 

 jaws are sharp, and the under one is the shortest. Each nostril 

 has two small openings placed in a circular depression, with- 

 out any membranous appendant. The eyes are large, stand 

 high up, and are of an oblong form. 



The back slopes but little. The lateral line begins at the 

 nostril, passes under the eye, ascends to the neck, and there ' 

 forms an elevated ridge, which bounds the prickly portion of 

 the back. At the dorsal fin it bends down, and runs through 

 the middle of the tail, which is quadrangular. 



The dorsal fin is falcated, and contains fourteen rays. The 

 pectoral fins are small ; and each contains fourteen rays, of 

 which the extreme ones are undivided. The anal fin is falcat- 

 ed, and contains eleven rays, of which the two first are undi- 

 vided, and the last is divided to the root. The tail fin con- 

 sists of two sharp lobes, of which the upper is the longest, and 

 contains thirteen rays, of which three on each side are undi- 

 vided. 



IV. Genus. — Syngnathus. 



Fishes of the first order with a very small toothless mouthj 

 situated at the extremity of a long cylindrical tube, composed 

 of the jaws united. 



All the fishes of this genus, which I have seen in the 

 Ganges, are from seven inches to a foot in length, and not 

 thicker than a strong goose's quill. Being rather uncommon, 



