Creature Feature #591: Pipefish

There are two different Families of Pipefish: the true Pipefish and the Ghost Pipefish, which are considered "false" Pipefishes. Both fall into the same Order as seahorses and their kin.

True Pipefish are similar to elongated seahorses. Locomotion is enabled almost entirely by the dorsal fin. He is thus not generally a strong swimmer. Most species live in a marine environment, although a few are freshwater. Like seahorses and sea dragons, it is the father that raises the infants, hatching the eggs in hisbrood pouch. Females lay more eggs than the males can carry, and thus he may consume some of the embryos, absorbing the energy to help the survival of the others. Once hatched, the fry are free-swimming and independent. The fry of some species join the plankton columns, whilst other species resemble miniature adults.

False Pipefish are characterised by their spiny dorsal fin, the presence of pelvic fins and star-shaped plates on their skin. They are well camouflaged, as they swim through their marine environment and suck small crustaceans up their narrow snouts. In these species it is the female that incubates the eggs and hatches the fry, brooding them between their elongated pelvic fins.