Ghost Pipefish
Solenostomus paradoxus
Broadnosed Pipefish
Syngnathus typhle
About
The broadnosed pipefish drifts upright among seagrass, so thin it looks like a piece of stem come alive. It can grow up to 35 cm long, but its narrow body makes it easy to miss on a dive.
Also known as: seagrass pipefish, broad-nosed pipefish
- Length
- 35 cm
- Depth
- up to 20 m
How to tell it apart
The broadnosed pipefish looks like the slimmer straightnose pipefish, but its body is six-sided in cross-section rather than round, and its tail ends in a small fan-shaped fin.
Appearance
This pipefish has a long, slender body with a hexagonal cross-section and small bony plates covering its skin. Its snout is long, flattened from the side, and as deep as its own body. It is greenish with darker mottling and a yellow belly.
Habitat
Broadnosed pipefish live in shallow coastal water and estuaries, down to about 20 m, usually over reefs or beds of seagrass. They often shelter among Zostera grass or other plants.
Behaviour
This pipefish tends to rest upright among strands of seaweed rather than swim in the open. It feeds on tiny plankton like copepods, sucking them in through its mouth.
Breeding
Females compete for males rather than the other way round. A male carries eggs from several females in a brood pouch on his belly, and the young hatch after about four weeks.
Did you know?
In this pipefish, several females can add eggs to one male's brood pouch at once, the highest rate of shared broods known in any pipefish species.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
