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Show 266 PISCES. maries shorter; pedicles of the intermaxillaries longer; the dor. sal commencing opposite to the middle of the pectorals; the body thicker in pt·oportion. Both species are common along the. w hole coast of France•' from eight to ten inches long, and of a stlver-grey colour. They are esteemed as food, and at·e also used for bait. ORDER V. LOPHOBRANCHII. All the fishes of which we have hitherto spoken, have not only a bony or fibrous skeleton, and complete and free jaws, but their branchiro are uniformly com.posed of lamin:e, or are pectiniform. In this order, however, we likewise find the jaws free and complete; but it is eminently distinguished by the gills, which instead of resembling, as usual, the teeth of a comb, are divided into small round tufts, arranged in pairs along the branchial arches, a structure of which no other fishes present any example. They are enclosed beneath a large operculum, tied down on all sides by a membrane which leaves only a single small orifice for the exit of the water, and exhi· biting in its thickness only vestiges of rays. These fishes are also recognized by the scutellated. plates of mail which cover their body, and usually render it angular. They are generally small, and almost without flesh. Their intestine is equal, and without creca, and their natatory bladder thin, but proportion· ably large. SYNGNATnus, Lin.(l) The Syngnathi constitute a numerous genus charactet'ized by a tubular snout, formed, like that of the Fistulariclre, by the prolonga· (1) From q-ln and 1-vli&o, (united jaws', a name composed by Artedi, who thought that the tube of the snout of these fishes was formed by the union of theil· jaws. LOPHOBRANCHII. 267 tion of the ethmoid, vomer, tympanals, preopercula, subopercula, &:c., and terminated by an ordinary mouth, but one that is cleft almost vertically on its extremity. The respiratory aperture is near the nape, and the vent1·als arc wanting. There is a peculiarity in the generation of these fishes, whose ova slip into a pouch formed by an inflation of the skin and are hatched there; this pouch, in some, is situated under the belly, and in others under the base of the tail; it splits spontaneously for the passage of the fry. SYNGNATaus, properly so called. An extremely elongated and very thin body, differing but little in diameter throughout. Several species are found in the seas of Europe. Some of them, besides their ventrals, have a dorsal, a caudal, and an anal.( 1) In others the anal only is wanting.(2) In these two groups the pouch is situated undet· the tail. Others again have neither anal uor pectorals, but are provided with a dorsal and caudal; their pouch is under the bel1y.(3) A fourth kind are deprived of every fin but the dorsal.( 4) HIPPOCAMPus, Cuv. The trunk laterally compressed, and considerably more elevated than the tail; by curving after death the head and body assume some resemblance to the head and neck of a horse in miniature, whence their vulgar name of Sea-Horses. The edges of their scales are raised into ridges, and their salient angles into spines. The tail is without fins. One species is found in the seas of Europe with a short snout, Hipp. brevirostris, Cuv., Will., pl. J, 25, fig. 3; and another with a longer snout, Hipp. guttulatus, Cuv., Will., J. 25, f. 5, both of which have only a few filaments on the snout and body. Others closely allied to these, are taken in the Indian Ocean.( 5) New Holland produces a larger one, which, ft·om the leaf-like (1) Syngnathus typhle, L., Bl., 9J, 1;-Syng. acus, L., Bl., 91, 2. (2) Syng. pelagicus, Risso, p. 63;-Syng. Rondeletii, Laroche, Ann. Mus., XIII, 5, 5, viridia, Risso, 65, Ron del., 229, 1 ;-8. barbarus, Penn., Brit. Zool ., or rubes· cen~, Risso. (3) Syng. requoreus, L., Montag., ·werner. Soc., I, 4·, f. 1. . (4) Syng. ophidion, L., Bl, 91, 3;-Syng. papacinus, Hisso, IV, 7;-Syng. faacwtua, Jd., lb., 8. (5) Syng. longirostris, Cuv., Will., J.; 25, f. 4, and other species to be described in our lcthyology. \ I I |
