Notice of the Syngnathus iEquoreus. 291 



dorsal ray to extremity of tail, 10|th inches ; length of dorsal 

 fin, 2f inches, with 39 rays resting on eleven rings, three of 

 which belong to the tail. 



The trunk consists of 29 divisions or rings, and the tail of 

 about 60 or 64 ; vent immediately under the twenty-seventh 

 ray of the dorsal fin. 



Form of the trunk from the gill to the vent is octangular, 

 and from the vent downwards quadrangular, towards the 

 extremity somewhat flattened. 



I have given this description, as it differs somewhat from 

 most of the descriptions of this fish. Jenyns and Yarrell 

 give it rudimentary caudal rays, and Kaup six caudal rays. 

 In this specimen I could not discover, even with the micro- 

 scope, the faintest trace of a rudimentary ray, when not 

 more than half an hour dead. Kaup says that this species 

 has till now (1856) been found only in the south-west 

 coast of Scotland, in Ireland, the Isle of Man, at Havre, and 

 in Norway. He does not appear to be aware, as noticed by 

 Dr Parnell, that prior to 1685 Sir Eobert Sibbald obtained 

 a specimen from the Firth of Forth ; and within the last 

 few years, Dr J. M'Bain and Dr J. A. Smith each got speci- 

 mens. The last is now in the Natural History Museum, 

 College, Edinburgh. 



[As this fish has not been often distinguished or de- 

 scribed, there are here added, for the sake of comparison, 

 the notes formerly taken from the specimen examined by 

 Dr Smith, and exhibited at the meeting of this Society, on 

 25th January 1860. These details were not included in the 

 notice of the fish printed in the Proceedings, see page 139. 



Notes of the JEquoreal Pipe Fish (Nerophis iEquoreus), taken at the 

 Isle of May. By John Alexander Smith, M.D. 



Nerophis j^Jquoreus, Kaup* ; Syngnathus cequoreus, Yar. 

 The iEquoreal-Pipe Fish. The general colour of the fish is 

 brownish-yellow, approaching to olive-green on the back. 

 Pectoral, anal, and caudal fins awanting. 



* Catalogue of Lophobranchiate Fish in the Collection of the British Mu- 

 seum, 1856, by Dr J. J. Kaup. 



VOL. II. 2 P 



