63 
The Launces ( Ammodytes ) have elongated com¬ 
pressed bodies, covered with scales placed in transverse 
series, and the dorsal, caudal and anal fin separate 
from each other. The jaws are acute and extensile. 
They bury in the sand and live on worms, and are 
much used as a bait. 
The Pipe Fish ( Syngnathidce) form the next group. 
They have the jaws, and the fibrous, bony skeleton 
of other fishes, but their gills are divided into little 
tufts, placed by pairs on the bony branchial arches, in¬ 
stead of being formed of regular, pectinated plates. 
Their body is also covered with shields, which give it 
an angular appearance. In the true Pipe Fish (Syn- 
gnathus) the mouth is placed at the end of a tubular 
beak. The eggs in some species are placed under two 
folds of skin situated on the side of the abdomen; in 
others they are attached to the skin of the abdomen 
itself. Many of the species are straight, but some 
contract after death, so as to form a grotesque resem¬ 
blance to a horse in miniature, whence they are called 
Sea Horses (Hippocampus). The Pegasi ( Pegasus) 
differ from them by the mouth being placed at the base 
of a prominent muzzle. The ventral fin of some of 
the species of this genus is very large and expanded, 
whence their name. 
The following fishes differ from all the former by the 
jaws being formed of the maxillary and intermaxillary 
bones united together into one body. Their skeleton 
is soft, but fibrous. 
Cases 7 and 8. The first of these, the Gymnodontes, 
have the jaws shaped like the beak of a parrot, and com¬ 
posed of parallel laminae united together. They live on 
Crustacea, shells and sea-weeds, and their flesh, which 
has usually a musky odour, is said to be deleterious at 
particular seasons. Several of these fishes have the fa¬ 
culty of dilating their stomach with air, giving the body 
the appearance of a balloon. When this takes place 
they float along the surface of the water, in an inverted 
position. 
ROOM XI. 
Nat. Hist. 
