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 j^quoreal Pipe Fish (Nerophis JEquoreus), taken at the 
Isle of May. By John Alexander Smith, M.D. 
Nerophis j^quoreus, Kaup* ; Syngnathus mquoreus, Yar. 
The -^quoreal-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 Lophobrancliiate Fish in the Collection of the British Mu- 
seum, 1856, by Dr J. J. Kaup. 
VOL. II. 2 P 
