PLATE LVIII. 
This is a diminutive sort of Pipe-fish, not unfrequently caught Il! 
the winter season among the sprats near our coasts. At the fi rst 
glance, this little Fish appears to bear a very strong resemblance t° 
Syngnathus Actts, and may possibly have been confounded with the 
young of that species, for it has hitherto remained unnoticed as a 
native of our seas *. 
' The body of this species is marked longitudinally with seven 
angles, in which particular it agrees with Syngnathus Acus. ^ 
differs in being of a more linear form, the snout is comparatively 
smaller, and thef whole length of the fish scarcely ever exceeds fi vC 
or six inches : those of seven inches long may be considered of a 
large size. The colour is pale brown, marked more or less distinctly 
with transverse darker bands, but this is no positive criterion, f h c 
species can be distinguished only by its linear form, the shape of th c 
snout, the greater number of joints in the body and tail, and by f h e 
total absence of the anal fin. 
Osbeck is the first describer of this species. He speaks of it as art 
inhabitant of the Indian seas. Most likely it is of the migratory kii ic h 
as it has been oftentimes seen floating with fuci, and other nianrt e 
weeds, both in the Indian and Atlantic ocean. Osbeck describes ^ 
as destitute of an anal fin, which Bloch observes, has led LinnseU 5 
into an error. Lacepede conjectures, however, that Bloch is himself 
mistaken, and being unacquainted with the true Peiagicus, has repf e * 
* Qucre. May not Pennant’s figure, No. 61, of Plate XX11I. Vol. Ill if Brit. Z°° 1 ' 
be taken from a fish of this species, in which the pectoral fins and tail w r ere dried vf' 
or had been destroyed by accident ? 
