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Information about Pipefish

Pipefish
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Alligator Pipefish Syngnathoides biaculeatus

Alligator Pipefish Syngnathoides biaculeatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Actinopterygii
Order:Syngnathiformes
Family:Syngnathidae
Subfamily:Syngnathinae
Genera


See text.


Pipefish (Syngnathinae) are small fish, which with the Seahorses form a distinct family. Pipefish look like straight-bodied seahorses with tiny mouths.

The name is derived from the peculiar form of their snout, which is like a long tube, ending in narrow and small mouth which opens upwards and is toothless. The body and tail are long, thin, and snake-like. They have a highly modified skeleton formed into armored plating. This dermal skeleton has several longitudinal ridges, so that a vertical section through the body looks angular, not round or oval as in the majority of other fishes. A dorsal fin is always present, and is the principal (in some species, the only) organ of locomotion. The ventral fins are constantly absent, and the other fins may or may not be developed. The gill-openings are extremely small and placed near the upper posterior angle of the gill-cover. Most of the pipe-fishes are marine, only a few being freshwater. Pipe-fishes are abundant on coasts of the tropical and temperate zones. Most species of pipefish are less than 20cm in length and generally inhabit sheltered areas in coral reefs, seagrass beds and sandy lagoons.

Many are very weak swimmers in open water, moving slowly by means of rapid movements of the dorsal fin. Some species of pipefish have tails that are prehensile as in seahorses. The majority of pipefishes have some form of a caudal fin (unlike seahorses), which can be used for locomotion. There are species of pipefish with more developed caudal fins, such as the group collectively known as flag-tail pipefish, are quite strong swimmers.

There are approximately 200 species of pipefish.

Reproduction

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Banded Pipefish, Fiji
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Alligator Pipefish
Pipefish, like their seahorse relatives, leave most of the parenting duties to the males. Courtship tends to be elaborately choreographed displays between the males and females. Pair bonding varies wildly between different species of pipefish. While some are monogamous or seasonally monogamous, others are quite gregarious. Many species exhibit polyandry, a breeding system in which one female mates with two or more males, and are thus sex-role reversed. This occurs because males invest more energy in the offspring than do females, as a result of male pregnancy. This tends to occur with greater frequency in internal brooding species of pipefish than with external brooding species.

Male pipefish have a specially developed area to carry eggs, which are deposited by the female pipefish. In some species this is just a patch of spongy skin that the eggs adhere to until hatching. Other species have a partial or even fully developed pouch to carry the eggs. The location of the brood patch or pouch can be along the entire underside of the pipefish or just at the base of the tail, as with seahorses.

Young are born freeswimming with relatively little or no yolk sac, and begin feeding immediately. From the time they hatch they are independent of their parents, who at that time may choose to view them as food. Some fry have short larval stages and live as plankton for a short while. Others are fully developed but miniature versions of their parents, assuming the same behaviors as their parents immediately.

General

It is the case that pipefish possess a swimbladder. The literature on its size and positioning is very scant, with an aged volume dating from 1934 the only known publication containing specific information. The laterally-flattened spheroidal swimbladder is approximately 1/25 the length of the whole animal and apparently highly acoustically reflective at commercially important frequencies. This appears to apply to juveniles also.

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Dragonface Pipefish
  • Subfamily Pipefishes Syngnathinae
  • Genus Acentronura Kaup, 1853
  • Pipehorse, Acentronura dendritica
  • Acentronura tentaculata
  • Genus Anarchopterus Hubbs, 1935
  • Genus Apterygocampus Weber, 1913
  • Genus Bhanotia Hora, 1926
  • Genus Bryx Herald, 1940
  • Pink pipefish, Bryx analicarens
  • Pugnose pipefish, Bryx dunckeri
  • Bryx veleronis
  • Genus Bulbonaricus Herald in Schultz, Herald, Lachner, Welander and Woods, 1953
  • Genus Campichthys Whitley, 1931
  • Genus Choeroichthys Kaup, 1856
  • Genus Corythoichthys Kaup, 1853
  • Genus Cosmocampus Dawson, 1979
  • Genus Doryichthys Kaup, 1853
  • Genus Doryrhamphus Kaup, 1856
  • Janss Pipefish, Doryrhampus janssi
  • Genus Dunckerocampus Whitley, 1933
  • Genus Enneacampus Dawson, 1981
  • Genus Entelurus Duméril, 1870
  • Genus Festucalex Whitley, 1931
  • Genus Filicampus Whitley, 1948
  • Genus Halicampus Kaup, 1856
  • Genus Haliichthys Gray, 1859
  • Genus Heraldia Paxton, 1975
  • Genus Hippichthys Bleeker, 1849 -- river pipefishes
  • Genus Hypselognathus Whitley, 1948
  • Genus Ichthyocampus Kaup, 1853
  • Genus Kaupus Whitley, 1951
  • Genus Kimblaeus Dawson, 1980
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    Bay pipefish (Syngnathus leptorhynchus)
  • Genus Leptoichthys Kaup, 1853
  • Genus Leptonotus Kaup, 1853
  • Genus Lissocampus Waite and Hale, 1921
  • Genus Maroubra Whitley, 1948
  • Genus Micrognathus Duncker, 1912
  • Genus Microphis Kaup, 1853 -- freshwater pipefishes
  • Genus Minyichthys Herald and Randall, 1972
  • Genus Mitotichthys Whitley, 1948
  • Genus Nannocampus Günther, 1870
  • Genus Nerophis Rafinesque, 1810
  • Genus Notiocampus Dawson, 1979
  • Genus Penetopteryx Lunel, 1881
  • Genus Phoxocampus Dawson, 1977
  • Genus Phycodurus Gill, 1896
  • Genus Phyllopteryx Swainson, 1839
  • Genus Pseudophallus Herald, 1940 -- fluvial pipefishes
  • Genus Pugnaso Whitley, 1948
  • Genus Siokunichthys Herald in Schultz, Herald, Lachner, Welander and Woods, 1953
  • Genus Solegnathus Swainson, 1839
  • Genus Stigmatopora Kaup, 1853
  • Genus Stipecampus Whitley, 1948
  • Genus Syngnathoides Bleeker, 1851
  • Genus Syngnathus Linnaeus, 1758 -- seaweed pipefishes
  • Gulf Pipefish, Syngnathus scovelli
  • Bay Pipefish, Syngnathus leptorhynchus
  • Dusky Pipefish, "Syngnathus floridae"
  • Northern PipefishSyngnathus fuscus
  • Genus Trachyrhamphus Kaup, 1853
  • Genus Urocampus Günther, 1870
  • Hairy pipefish, Urocampus carinirostris
  • Genus Vanacampus Whitley, 1951

External links

References

Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Actinopterygii
Klein, 1885

Subclasses

Chondrostei
Neopterygii
See text for orders.
The Actinopterygii (the plural form of Actinopterygius) comprise the class of the ray-finned fishes.
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Syngnathiformes

Families

Aulostomidae
Centriscidae
Fistulariidae
Solenostomidae
Syngnathidae
Syngnathiformes is an order of ray-finned fishes that includes the pipefishes and seahorses.
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Syngnathidae

Subfamilies and genera

See text.

Syngnathidae is a family of fish which includes the seahorses, the pipefishes, and the weedy and leafy sea dragons.
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Hippocampus
Cuvier, 1816[1]

Species

See text for species.
Seahorses are a genus (Hippocampus) of fish belonging to the family Syngnathidae, which also includes pipefish and leafy sea dragons.
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Serpentes
Linnaeus, 1758

Infraorders and Families
  • Alethinophidia - Nopcsa, 1923
  • Acrochordidae- Bonaparte, 1831

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skeleton or skeletal system is the biological system providing physical support in living organisms. (By extension, non-biological outline structures such as gantries or buildings may also acquire skeletons.
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dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of some fishes, whales, dolphins, and porpoises, as well as the (extinct) ichthyosaurs. Its main purpose is to stabilize the animal against rolling and assist in sudden turns.
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A gill is a respiration organ that functions for the extraction of oxygen from water and the excretion of carbon dioxide. Unlike many small aquatic animals, which can absorb oxygen through the entire surface of their bodies, more complex aquatic organisms have gills specially
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Coral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living organisms, found in shallow, tropical marine waters with little to no nutrients in the water. High nutrient levels such as that found in runoff from agricultural areas can harm the reef by encouraging the growth of algae.
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This article has been tagged since September 2007.
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Prehensility is the quality of an organ that has adapted for grasping or holding. Examples of prehensile body parts include the tails of New World monkeys and opossums, the trunks of elephants, the tongues of giraffes, the lips of horses and the proboscides of tapir.
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This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article.
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The gas bladder (also fish maw, less accurately swim bladder or air bladder) is an internal organ that contributes to the ability of a fish to control its buoyancy, and thus to stay at the current water depth, ascend, or descend without having to waste energy
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Corythoichthys
Kaup, 1853

Species
See text.

Corythoichthys is a genus of pipefishes of the family Syngnathidae.

Species

  • Genus Corythoichthys

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Doryrhamphus

Doryrhamphus is a genus of fish in the Syngnathidae family. It contains the following species:
  • banded pipefish (Doryrhamphus dactyliophorus)

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Leptonotus
Kaup, 1853

Species
See text.

Leptonotus is a genus of pipefishes of the family Syngnathidae.

species

  • Genus Leptonotus
  • Deep-bodied pipefish,

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Microphis

Microphis is a genus of fish in the Syngnathidae family. It contains the following species:
  • slender pipefish (Microphis caudocarinatus)
  • spinach pipefish (Microphis spinachioides)

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Phycodurus
Gill, 1896

Species: P. eques

Binomial name
Phycodurus eques
(Günther, 1865)

The leafy sea dragon,
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Phyllopteryx
Swainson, 1839

Species: P. taeniolatus

Binomial name
Phyllopteryx taeniolatus
(Lacepède, 1804)
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Solegnathus
Swainson, 1839

Species
See text.

Solegnathus is a genus of pipefish belonging to the family Syngnathidae. They are found in temperate and tropical seas worldwide.
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Stigmatopora
Kaup, 1853

Species
See text.

Stigmatopora is a genus of pipefish of the family Syngnathidae.

species

  • Genus Stigmatopora
  • Spotted pipefish,

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Syngnathoides

Syngnathoides is a genus of fish in the Syngnathidae family. It contains the following species:
  • alligator pipefish (Syngnathoides biaculeatus)

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Alligator Pipefish Syngnathoides biaculeatus]]
Alligator Pipefish Syngnathoides biaculeatus


Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum:
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FishBase is a comprehensive database of information about fish. As of October 2006, it included descriptions of over 29,400 species, over 222,300 common names in hundreds of languages, over 42,600 pictures, and references to more than 38,600 works in the scientific literature.
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