The Bijlory of A N I M A L §. 
^03 
Syngnathus corpore medio heptagono , cauda pinnata. 
The Syngnathus , w///? the middle of the body heptangular , <3 jS# at 
the taih 
This is a very fmail, as well as a very lingular, fpecies : it rarely exceeds four inches 
and a half in length, and it is of the thicknefs of a large goofe-quill s the head is 
long and fender ; the opening of the mouth is very fmail, and is placed at the extremity 
of a kind of roftrum or fnout, formed by the elongation of the head : the eyes are very 
fmail, and the coverings of the gills are fmail, and are not round, but oblong, and 
placed high up toward the back of the head : the body is fender, but it is not round¬ 
ed, as in the former fpecies, but angulated; from the head to the anus it is heptan¬ 
gular, or has feven ridges $ from the anus to the extremity of the back fin it is hexa¬ 
gonal, and from this part to the extremity of the tail it is quadrangular or fquare, and 
grows gradually finaller* all the way to the end : the whole body is covered with a 
kind of laminae or plates, of a figure approaching to quadrangular, and ftriated; it’s 
colour is a reddifh-brown s the nofrils have two apertures on each fide, placed juft be¬ 
fore the eyes; the pe&oral fins are two; they are roundifh and very fmail; they have 
fourteen or fifteen rays in each, and ftand fomewhat nearer the belly than the back of 
the fifh; there are no belly-fins $ on the back there is one fin ; it ftands lower on the 
body than the anus; it has thirty-five rays which are not divided at their tops, and are 
all of the fame length : the tail terminates in a radiated fin, which is fupported by ten 
rays, not divided at the extremities j there is juft below the anus a very fmail fin, 
fupported by three rays. 
We have this fpecies about our own coafts, particularly on the weftern part of the 
ifand, but we have no Englifh name for it. Gefner calls it Typhle; Ray and 
Willughby have named it, Acus Ariftotelis fpecies altera major* 
Syng?tathus corpore medio hexagono cauda pinnata. 
The Syngnathus , with the middle of the body hex an- 
gular , and the tail pinnated. 
This is about five inches in length, and is more than a third of an inch in diameter 5 
the head is long, narrow, and of a comprefled form j the opening of the mouth is 
fmail j the eyes are very fmail, and the apertures of the noftrils are two on each fide, 
and are placed very near them: the body is hexangular from the head to the anus, 
and from thence to the extremity of the tail it is quadrangular or fquare : there are 
two fhort and roundifh pedoral fins; there is one fin on the lower part of the back, 
and the tail is terminated alfo by a fin, which, when expanded, is fhort and truncated $ 
and, finally, there is an extreamly fmail fin near the anus: there are no vifible lines on 
the fides j the anterior part of the roftrum or head is very flender, and comprefled. 
We have this alfo frequent about our fea-coafts j I have met with it in great abun¬ 
dance about the fhores of Yorkfhire; all the writers on fifties have defcribed it. Al- 
drovand and others call it Acus Ariftotelis; others, Typhle marina, ^fid Nerophi- 
dion; Gillembourg, Serpens marinus; and Pliny, Sphondylus. We call it the Needle- 
fifh. 
The males and females in this, and the former fpecies, are eafily diftinguifhed; the 
females carrying a kind of long bag, reaching from the anus half-way to the tail; 
there are numerous eggs in this at the proper feafon ; they are full of the fize of rape- 
feed, and of a whitifh colour : they neither are fo numerous, nor at all refemble, in 
their arrangement or difpofition, the eggs of the generality of the other fifties of this 
clafs: this may indeed be, in fome degree, faid to be viviparous, for the rudiment 
of the foetus is, in fome meafure, animated, before it is difcharged from the vefica 
or bag. 
Syngnathus 
