Black-striped pipefish

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Black-striped pipefish
Syngnathus abaster body B.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Syngnathiformes
Family: Syngnathidae
Genus: Syngnathus
Species:
S. abaster
Binomial name
Syngnathus abaster
A. Risso, 1826
Synonyms [2]
  • Syngnathus abasterRisso, 1827
  • Syngnathus ethonRisso, 1827
  • Syngnathus agassiz Michahelles, 1829
  • Syngnathus agassiziiMichahelles, 1829
  • Syngnathus nigrolineatus Eichwald, 1831
  • Syngnathus caspiusEichwald, 1831
  • Syngnathus bucculentus Rathke, 1837
  • Syngnathus anguisigola Nardo, 1847
  • Syngnathus flavescens Kaup, 1856
  • Syngnathus algeriensis Günther, 1870
  • Syngnathus microchirus Moreau, 1891

The black-striped pipefish (Syngnathus abaster) is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae. It is found in the eastern Atlantic from the southern Gulf of Biscay to Gibraltar, also in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. As the introduced species it is mentioned in the Caspian Sea and fresh waters of its basin. [3]

Contents

General information

Syngnathus abaster, common name the black-striped pipefish, is a close relative of the seahorse. It is usually found in the Mediterranean Sea, living in relatively shallow waters around seaweed and sea grass, and is also found in brackish waters. Pipefish are true fish. Their long, narrow bodies have an external skeleton made of bony plates, and their mouths are very small and pipe-shaped. They swim using a side to side wiggling motion that is similar to the movement of a snake or by undulation of their dorsal fin. The pipefish's diet is mainly small crustaceans, fish fry, and zooplankton. The roles males and females take on in reproduction are similar to those of male and female seahorses. The males carry the fertilized eggs in specialized pouches on their bodies. The eggs mature in this pouch, and the young are expelled through a longitudinal slit in the front of the pouch.

Distribution

The black-striped pipefish is found in coastal waters and in the lower reaches of rivers in the Caspian, Black and Mediterranean Sea basins, along the European Atlantic coast from Gibraltar north to the southern part of the Bay of Biscay; in the Danube reaching west to the frontier between Romania and Hungary, as well as in the Dnieper up to Kyiv. It was introduced into reservoirs of the middle and lower Volga with mysids brought from the Don estuary, where it is now expanding its range and has been recorded to the south of Moscow. [1]

Environment and habitat

Pipefish are mainly marine, with a few species also found in freshwater. Syngnathus abaster is a marine species living in shallow-water seagrass in the Mediterranean Sea.

Appearance and body type

The long bodies are encased in bony plates resembling scales. These plates are a protective armour and serve as camouflage. Even though pipefish have these bony plates, their bodies are very flexible and have the ability to move much like snakes do. Their elongated head looks like a horse head and resembles that of the related seahorses. They also have the ability to wrap their tails around sea grasses to anchor themselves, just as sea horses do. Unlike sea horses, pipefish swim horizontally. Another unique feature is their long snout, which is where the pipefish gets its name.

Diet

As stated above, a pipefish's diet consists mostly of newborn fish and small crustaceans. As the pipefish does not chew its food, the prey needs to be small enough to fit in the mouth and be swallowed whole. The long pipe-like mouth of the pipefish is used as a sucking tool when it eats. The pipefish wraps its tail around sea grass, using it as an anchor. It patiently waits until its prey swims close, and then sucks it up, puffing out its cheeks in the process. The tube is dilated which creates a small, strong current in the water near the fish's mouth. According to Guenther Sterba, author of Freshwater Fishes of the World, the current is accompanied by a sucking noise, much like a small vacuum cleaner. Many species of large fish prey on pipefish, as do otters and blue crabs. This particular species of pipefish has no real defense against predators aside from camouflage and swimming away, making it an easy target.

Reproduction

The sexes can generally be differentiated by the number of bands on the body. Males have a larger number of colored bands than females do. During mating, the fish intertwine as part of a courtship dance. The female transfers the eggs to the male's brooding pouch through her long ovipositor. The brooding pouch is located near the anus of the pipefish. The eggs stay in the male's brooding pouch until the young are developed enough to be independent. At this point, the young exit the pouch with the help of muscular contractions of the male's body. If the young sense danger or feel threatened, they are able to re-enter the brooding pouch.

Related Research Articles

Seahorse Genus of fishes

A seahorse is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus Hippocampus. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek hippókampos (ἱππόκαμπος), itself from híppos (ἵππος) meaning "horse" and kámpos (κάμπος) meaning "sea monster". Having a head and neck suggestive of a horse, seahorses also feature segmented bony armour, an upright posture and a curled prehensile tail. Along with the pipefishes and seadragons they form the family Syngnathidae.

Syngnathidae Family of fishes

The Syngnathidae is a family of fish which includes seahorses, pipefishes, and seadragons. The name is derived from Greek, σύν (syn), meaning "together", and γνάθος (gnathos), meaning "jaw". This fused jaw trait is something the entire family has in common.

Pipefish Subfamily of fishes

Pipefishes or pipe-fishes (Syngnathinae) are a subfamily of small fishes, which, together with the seahorses and seadragons, form the family Syngnathidae.

Greater pipefish Species of fish

The greater pipefish is a pipefish of the family Syngnathidae. It is a seawater fish and the type species of the genus Syngnathus.

Lesser pipefish Species of fish

The lesser pipefish or Nilsson's pipefish is a pipefish similar to the greater pipefish, but with no crest above the head. Usually it reaches up to 17 centimetres (6.7 in) in length, maximally 18 centimetres (7.1 in), although in South Wales they are usually not more than 10 to 13 centimetres long. They have a light to dark green-brown colour with bar-like markings on the sides. Lesser pipefish are found all around the British Isles and as far as the French coast, although they have now been recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.

Tiger tail seahorse Species of fish

The tiger tail seahorse is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae. The species was first described by Theodore Cantor in 1850. It is found in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtidal aquatic beds and coral reefs. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Hippocampus kuda</i> Species of fish

Hippocampus Kuda, also known as the common seahorse, estuary seahorse, yellow seahorse or spotted seahorse. The common name sea pony has been used for this species under its synonym Hippocampus fuscus. Pieter Bleeker named the species "kuda," the Indonesian name for "seahorse" partially because of its nativity to the Indo-Pacifc

Short-snouted seahorse Species of fish

The short-snouted seahorse is a species of seahorse in the family Syngnathidae. It was endemic to the Mediterranean Sea and parts of the North Atlantic, particularly around Italy and the Canary Islands. In 2007, colonies of the species were discovered in the River Thames around London and Southend-on-Sea.

Lined seahorse Species of fish

The lined seahorse, northern seahorse or spotted seahorse, is a species of fish that belongs to the family Syngnathidae. H. erectus is a diurnal species with an approximate length of 15 cm and lifespan of one to four years. The H. erectus species can be found in myriad colors, from greys and blacks to reds, greens, and oranges. The lined seahorse lives in the western Atlantic Ocean as far north as Canada and as far south as the Caribbean, Mexico, and Venezuela. It swims in an erect position and uses its dorsal and pectoral fins for guidance while swimming.

Broadnosed pipefish Species of fish

The broadnosed pipefish or deepnosed pipefish is a fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is native to the Eastern Atlantic from Vardø in Norway, Baltic Sea and the British Isles at north to Morocco at south. It is also found in the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Sea of Azov. It is common in the coastal shallow waters, usually on reefs with seagrasses. This species is notable for its "broad" snout, which is as deep as its body.

Pelagic pipefish, Syngnathus phlegon, is a pipefish species of the family Syngnathidae.

Northern pipefish Species of fish

The northern pipefish is a northwest Atlantic species of fish belonging to the family Syngnathidae.

The dusky pipefish is a species of the pipefishes, widespread in the western Atlantic from the Bermuda, Chesapeake Bay, northern part of the Gulf of Mexico, Bahama, and the western Caribbean Sea to Panama in south. Marine subtropical demersal fish, which lives at the depth up to 22 metres (72 ft), usually up to 4 metres (13 ft). The maximal length of the fish is 25 centimetres (9.8 in).

Southern pipefish Species of fish

The southern pipefish is a pipefish species that inhabits the Southwest Atlantic near Uruguay. It is a marine subtropical demersal fish. This species has been recorded among beds of Ruppia maritima in the Lagoa dos Patos in southern Brazil, and apparently they spend the whole of their lives in sea grass beds. It is a carnivorous species which feeds mainly on copepods and isopods, although the females consume a wider variety of prey. It is an ovoviviparous fish, in which the males bear the fertilised eggs inside a brood pouch located beneath its tail. During the breeding season they are sexually dimorphic which indicates that the species is probably polygamous.

The chain pipefish is a pipefish species. It inhabits the western Atlantic from Virginia, Bermuda and northern Gulf of Mexico to Campeche and Jamaica, but is absent from the Bahamas. It is a marine subtropical reef-associated fish, up to 38 cm length.

Gulf pipefish Species of fish

The Gulf pipefish is a member of the family Sygnathidae.

<i>Halicampus</i> Genus of fishes

Halicampus is a genus of pipefishes of the family Syngnathidae, containing 12 described species.

<i>Acentronura</i> Genus of fishes

Acentronura is a genus of pygmy pipehorse native to the Indian and Pacific oceans. The name is derived from the Greek ακεντρονουρα, or a-kentron-oura, and refers to the lack of a sting on the tail.

Pregnancy in fish

Pregnancy has been traditionally defined as the period of time eggs are incubated in the body after egg-sperm union. Although the term often refers to placental mammals, it has also been used in the titles of many international, peer-reviewed, scientific articles on fish, e.g. Consistent with this definition, there are several modes of reproduction in fish, providing different amounts of parental care. In ovoviviparity, there is internal fertilization and the young are born live but there is no placental connection or significant trophic (feeding) interaction; the mother's body maintains gas exchange but the unborn young are nourished by egg yolk. There are two types of viviparity in fish. In histotrophic viviparity, the zygotes develop in the female's oviducts, but she provides no direct nutrition; the embryos survive by eating her eggs or their unborn siblings. In hemotrophic viviparity, the zygotes are retained within the female and are provided with nutrients by her, often through some form of placenta.

Gyrodactylus leptorhynchi is a small monogenean obligate ectoparasite which parasitizes freshwater Bay Pipefish. Gyrodactylus leptorhynchi is the seventh Gyrodactylus species known to infect Bay Pipefish and the first characterized along the Pacific coast of North America. The parasite can get into captive fish environments, such as fish farms and aquariums, where it may spread in as little as 10 days. Gyrodactylus species are known to centralize on the brood pouch in male fish, this may allow. for transmission to newly hatched young. However, in Gyrodactylus leptorhynchi the parasite was found mostly found attached to body surfaces such as the dorsal fins.

References

  1. 1 2 Pollom, R. (2016). "Syngnathus abaster". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T21257A19423178. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T21257A19423178.en . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2018). "Syngnathus abaster" in FishBase. February 2018 version.
  3. ↑ "Species Syngnathus abaster Risso". FishWisePro. Retrieved 17 April 2020.


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