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The trumpetfishes are characterized by their slender bodies and tremendously long heads, as well as by the fact that the anterior bones of the skull are prolonged in a very long tube with the small mouth at its tip. The only other Gulf of Maine species with which they could possibly be confused is the pipefish (p. 312). In the latter, however, the tubular snout occupies only about one-eighteenth of the length of the fish whereas in trumpetfishes it is nearly one-fourth. Furthermore, the pipefishes lack ventral fins which the trumpetfishes have, while the caudal fin of the trumpetfishes is forked, but that of the pipefishes is rounded.