148 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 



minulis : f route declivi, in descensu sinuato : rostro brevi, gracillimo, subciflindrico : 

 pinna dorsali paulo ante medium longitudiuis desineuti : ano infra radium primum 

 dorsalem sito : pinnis pectoraiibus parvis, anali minutissimd ; caudali distinctd. 

 D. 31 ; A. 3?; C. 10; P. 14. 

 Long. unc. 4. lin. 7. 

 Form. — Body rather thick and somewhat cylindrical; the greatest depth and thickness nearly equal, 

 the former heing about one-twenty-seventh of the entire length From the head to the vent 

 hexagonal, the middle lateral ridges terminating abruptly, when opposite the commencement of 

 the dorsal fin, without inclining either upwards or downwards. Fifteen transverse plates 

 between the gills and the dorsal fin : only fifty-four in all, the tail not tapering so much as in 

 many other species. Head much pinched in at the gills, but rather full and protuberant about 

 the cheeks : its length ten and a half times in the entire length. Crown high and convex : a 

 ridge commencing at the occiput passes backward to the nape. Eyes large and full, with 

 somewhat of a spectacled appearance ; their diameter equal to the whole depth of that part of 

 the head ; the orbits rising in ridges above them, with the intervening space concave. From 

 between the eyes the profile descends in a sinuous curve to the base of the snout, which 

 is short, slender, very narrow, and almost cylindrical. The length of the snout is less than half 

 the entire length of the head ; its breadth, vertically, only one-third the depth of the same 

 taken behind the eyes. 



The dorsal commences beyond one-third of the entire length, occupies one-ninth of the 

 same, and terminates a little before the middle : nearly even, and rather high, more than 

 equalling the depth of the body underneath. Vent about underneath the first ray, but almost 

 in advance of the dorsal fin altogether. Anal extremely minute. Pectorals very small. 

 Caudal rays distinct. 

 Colour. — Trunk greyish-brown, with deep brown interrupted transverse fasciae. In front of the 

 dorsal, the fasciae terminate at the middle lateral ridge, below which the sides are spotted. 

 Dorsal fin also a little spotted. Cheeks whitish, with two very distinct narrow longitudinal 

 vittse extending backwards from the eyes to the posterior part of the opercle. 



Habitat, Tahiti. 



A well-marked species, and apparently undescribed. The only specimen in 

 the collection is a female, and, like the last, perhaps not full-sized. 



3. Syngnathus crinitus. Jen. 

 Plate XXVII. fig. 5. 

 S. griseus ; ventre, et macula operculari, nigricantibus : corpore crassiore, antice 

 heptagono, postice quadrangulo, angiitis acutis : vertice parum elevato ; cristis occi- 

 pitali et nuchali distinctis : rostro brcvissimo, subcylindrico, capite angustiore, pos- 

 tice supra carinato, apice subrecurvo : cirris duobus, minutis, Jilamentosis, palpe- 

 bralibus : pinna dorsali paulo ante medium longitudinis desinente ; ano infra initium 

 ejus sito : pinnis pectoraiibus et caudali parvis ; anali nulla. 



Long. unc. 3. lin. 5. 

 2 



