Estuarine pipefish

Last updated

Estuarine pipefish
Syngnathus watermeyeri.png
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Syngnathiformes
Family: Syngnathidae
Genus: Syngnathus
Species:
S. watermeyeri
Binomial name
Syngnathus watermeyeri

The estuarine pipefish or river pipefish (Syngnathus watermeyeri) is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae. It is endemic to South Africa and has been sporadically recorded in the estuarine portions of the Kariega, Kasouga, Bushmans, East Kleinemonde and West Kleinemonde rivers. It can be readily distinguished from another southern African pipefish with which it shares its habitat, S. temminckii, by its much shorter snout. The estuarine pipefish is most commonly found in beds of the eelgrass Zostera capensis . [2]

Contents

Conservation status

The estuarine pipefish was declared extinct in 1994, but was rediscovered in 2006 [3] in areas where it had not been reported in over four decades. This pipefish is Critically Endangered due to both natural and human threats to the brackish estuaries and local eelgrass beds in which it lives. [1]

Captive breeding

A captive population of Syngnathus watermeyeri is held at uShaka Marine World in Durban.

Etymology

The type was a female of 110 millimetres (4.3 in) collected in the Bushmans River and sent to J.L.B. Smith by F.L.E. Watermeyer, whom Smith honoured in the newly described species' specific name. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Syngnathus</i> Genus of fishes

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 longsnout pipefish is a pipefish of the family Syngnathidae. It has only been recorded from midwater and bottom trawls at depths of 37–212 metres (121–696 ft). The habitat and biology of this species are almost unknown but juveniles have been recorded in the stomachs of blue penguins and Snares penguins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Bay (New Jersey)</span> Bay in New Jersey, U.S.

Great Bay is located in southern New Jersey's Atlantic Coastal Plain in Ocean and Atlantic Counties, about ten miles (16 km) north of Atlantic City and 87 mi (140 km) south of New York City. The Mullica River flows into the bay, and together they form the Mullica River - Great Bay estuary habitat. The bay is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Little Egg Inlet. Great Bay is considered one of the least-disturbed marine wetlands habitats in the northeastern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater pipefish</span> 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knysna seahorse</span> Endangered species of seahorse from South Africa

The Knysna seahorse or Cape seahorse is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae. It is endemic to the south coast of South Africa, where it has been found in only three brackish water habitats: the estuary of the Keurbooms River in Plettenberg Bay, the Knysna Lagoon, and the estuarine portion of the Swartvlei system in Sedgefield. The limited range of this seahorse puts it at great risk of extinction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-striped pipefish</span> Species of fish

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bay pipefish</span> Species of fish

The bay pipefish is a pipefish native to the eelgrass beds of the Eastern Pacific, where its sinuous shape and green color allow it to blend in with the waving blades of eelgrass. Like other members of the seahorse family, male pipefish tend the eggs laid by their female partners in specialized pouches.

Pelagic pipefish is a pipefish species of the family Syngnathidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern pipefish</span> Species of fish

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulf pipefish</span> Species of fish

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.

<i>Syngnathus dawsoni</i> Species of fish

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.

<i>Syngnathus temminckii</i> Species of fish

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.

Choeroichthys smithi is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is found in the western Indian Ocean along the coasts of Reunion, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa. It is a demersal species, inhabiting tide pools and reef flats in coastal waters where it can grow to lengths of 5 cm. This species is ovoviviparous, with males carrying the eggs and giving birth to live young. The specific name honours the South African ichthyologist J.L.B. Smith (1897-1968) who collected the material which was used as the holotype by Dawson when he described the species.

<i>Hippichthys penicillus</i> Species of fish

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.

Microphis pleurostictus, the Luzon River pipefish (湖沼腹囊海龍),is a species of freshwater pipefish belonging to the family Syngnathidae.

Phoxocampus diacanthus, also known as the obscure pipefish or spined pipefish, is a species of marine fish belonging to the family Sygnathidae. It can be found inhabiting reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific from Japan and Sri Lanka to Samoa and New Caledonia in the south. Its diet likely consists of small crustaceans. Reproduction occurs through ovoviviparity in which the males brood eggs before giving live birth.

Urocampus carinirostris, also known as the hairy pipefish, is a species of marine fish belonging to the family Syngnathidae. They can be found inhabiting shallow seagrass beds and estuaries in Papua New Guinea and along the southern coast of Australia from Queensland to Swan River, Western Australia. Urocampus carinirostris is an ambush predator that is most commonly found on the edges of protected seagrass beds and near mangrove. Its diet consists of copepods and other small crustaceans. Reproduction occurs through ovoviviparity in which males brood around 48 eggs in a pouch beneath their tail before giving live birth to fully formed offspring. Adults can breed for at least six months.

Trachyrhamphus longirostris, also known as the long-head pipefish or straightstick pipefish, is a species of marine fish belonging to the family Syngnathidae. They can be found in muddy estuaries on the continental shelf throughout the Indo-Pacific from Eastern Africa to the Solomon Islands and Japan. The diet of Trachyrhamphus longirostris likely consists of small crustaceans. Adult individuals can grow to be approximately 33 centimeters in length. Reproduction occurs through ovoviviparity in which males brood eggs before giving live birth.

<i>Vanacampus phillipi</i> Species of fish

Vanacampus phillipi, also known as the Port Phillip pipefish, is a species of marine fish belonging to the family Syngnathidae. They can be found inhabiting seaweed and seagrass beds along the southern coast of Australia from Perth to Jervis Bay, New South Wales including the coast of Tasmania. Their diet consists of small crustaceans such as copepods, amphipods, and mysid shrimps. Reproduction occurs through ovoviviparity in which the males brood eggs before giving live birth to 50 or less offspring.

References

  1. 1 2 Pollom, R. (2017). "Syngnathus watermeyeri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T41030A67621860. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T41030A67621860.en . Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  2. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2018). "Syngnathus watermeyeri" in FishBase . February 2018 version.
  3. P.D. Vorwerk; P.W. Froneman; A.W. Paterson (2007). "Recovery of the critically endangered river pipefish, Syngnathus watermeyeri, in the Kariega Estuary, Eastern Cape province". South African Journal of Science. 103: 199–291.
  4. J.L.B. Smith (1963). "Fishes of the family Syngnathidae from the Red Sea and the western Indian Ocean". Ichthyological Bulletin, Department of Ichthyology, Rhodes University. 27: 515–543.