| Greater pipefish | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Syngnathiformes |
| Family: | Syngnathidae |
| Genus: | Syngnathus |
| Species: | S. acus |
| Binomial name | |
| Syngnathus acus | |
| Synonyms [3] | |
The greater pipefish (Syngnathus acus) is a pipefish of the family Syngnathidae. [2] It is a seawater fish and the type species of the genus Syngnathus . [4]
The genus name Syngnathus derives from the Greek, syn, symphysis meaning grown together and gnathos meaning jaw. The Latin species name acus means needle. [5]
The greater pipefish has a long segmented armoured body, angular in cross section and stretching up 45 cm long with its stiff appearance. It ranges a color brown to green in with broad alternating light and dark hue along it. Its customized by a long snout with mouth on end and a slight hump on the top of the body just behind the eyes.
The fish is generally 33 cm to 35 cm in length with a reported maximum length of 47 cm. They are almost square in each segment of the body, and known to feel rigid when handled. The greater pipefish has distinctive body rings which are a sandy brown with darker bars covering his body in between. [6] [5]
The anatomy of fish vary through the sex. The top third of the females belly is deep (when egg bound), twice the breadth of the lower two thirds below the vent. The male is the "tailing" with the twin folds below the vent. The folds of the skin make the middle third and during the "brooding" of the young they swell in size until the young are released from the pouch (at a size of 22 mm to 35 mm).
These fishes feed on live mysids and small prawns. [2] They are ovoviviparous and reproduce usually three times each year. A few females deposit partial clutches under the tail into the male's brood pouch, that may contain up to 400 eggs. [5]
The greater pipefish is found all around the British Isles and is regularly found in the Mediterranean Sea. [2]
These fishes are common on southerly and westerly coasts in a variety of habitats, often amongst seaweeds and seagrass. [2]
The southern African species Syngnathus temminckii (Kaup, 1856) was until recently synonymised with S. acus. However, morphological data clearly show that it is distinct, and genetic data indicate that it is not even the sister taxon of S. acus, but of another southern African species, the river pipefish S. watermeyeri . [7]
The Syngnathidae is a family of fish which includes seahorses, pipefishes, and seadragons. The name is derived from Ancient Greek: σύν, meaning "together", and γνάθος, meaning "jaw". The fused jaw is one of the traits that the entire family have in common.
Pipefishes or pipe-fishes (Syngnathinae) are a subfamily of small fishes, which, together with the seahorses and seadragons, form the family Syngnathidae.
Syngnathus is a genus of fish in the family Syngnathidae found in marine, brackish and sometimes fresh waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. Fossils of these species are found from the Oligocene to the Pleistocene. They are known from various localities of Greece, Italy, Germany and United States.
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.
Duncker's pipehorse, also known as the nose-ridge pipefish, red-and-gold pipehorse, red-hair pipefish or spiny sea dragon, is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae. It is endemic to eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island. It is a pelagic species which is found in the waters of the continental shelf and the continental slope. Fishermen within its range report that it is caught where there are hard substrates such as hard sand, shale, sandstone or gravel and they are often caught alongside gorgonians, black corals, algae or sponges. It is an ovoviviparous species in which the male bears the fertilised eggs in a brood pouch located under his tail. It is a carnivorous species which feeds on small planktonic crustacean.
The alligator pipefish or double-ended pipefish is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae and is the only species in the monotypic genus Syngnathoides. It is found in shallow water in the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific, its range extending from East Africa to northern Australia. This fish lives in habitats of seagrass and seaweed, and hides by positioning itself vertically with its head down amidst the similar-coloured fronds of vegetation. The elongated, well-camouflaged body can reach 29 cm (11 in) in length. It feeds by sucking up its prey.
The black-striped pipefish 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.
Doryrhamphus janssi, commonly known as the Janss' pipefish , is a species of pipefish belonging to the family Syngnathidae.
Pelagic pipefish is a pipefish species of the family Syngnathidae.
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).
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 Gulf pipefish is a species of pipefish in the member of the taxonomic family Sygnathidae. Syngnathus scovelli is native to the region of south Florida, United States, the Atlantic Ocean, etc. S. scovelli is similar to the species Opossum pipefish also known by its scientific name as Microphisbrachyurus.
The Yucatán pipefish is a demersal fish species native to the Gulf of Mexico.
Syngnathus dawsoni is a species of the pipefishes. It occurs in the central, western Atlantic in the Caribbean Sea from Puerto Rico to St. Lucia and has been recorded only from the east of the Mona Passage. It is a marine tropical demersal fish. It is ovoviviparous; the male carries the fertilized eggs in a brood pouch located under his tail. It has been captured at around 7 metres (23 ft) in shallow, inshore water but its habits and ecology are unknown. The specific name honours Charles Eric Dawson who collected the type material and who recognised this species as different from the other Atlantic members of the family Syngnathidae.
Halicampus is a genus of pipefishes of the family Syngnathidae, containing 12 described species.
Syngnathus temminckii is the most common pipefish in southern African estuaries, ranging from Walvis Bay (Namibia) to the Tugela River on the east coast of South Africa.
Corythoichthys amplexus, known commonly as the brown-banded pipefish, is a species of marine fish in the family Syngnathidae.
Choeroichthys sculptus, the sculptured pipefish, is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae.
The beady pipefish is a species of pipefish of the family Syngnathidae. It is found in the Indo-West Pacific, from the western Persian Gulf, to the north central Indian Ocean, to Japan and Australia. It lives in the lower parts of streams and rivers, estuarine habitats such as seagrass beds and mangroves, and shallow inshore habitats, where it can grow to lengths of 16–18 centimetres (6.3–7.1 in). It is expected to feed on small crustaceans, similar to other pipefish. This species is ovoviviparous, with males carrying eggs in a brood pouch before giving birth to live young. Average brood size is 177.
Photo from Denmark Aquarium | About fish |  | ||||
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