Syngnathinae — Overview

Pipefishes learn more about names for this taxon

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Pipefish

Pipefishes or pipe-fishes (Syngnathinae) are a subfamily of small fishes, which, together with the seahorses, form the family Syngnathidae.

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Anatomy

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 a 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.[1]

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.[1]

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.[1] See fish anatomy for fin descriptions. There are species of pipefish with more developed caudal fins, such as the group collectively known as flagtail pipefish, which are quite strong swimmers.[citation needed]

Habitat and distribution

Most pipefish are marine dwellers; only a few are freshwater species. Pipefishes are abundant on coasts of the tropical and temperate zones. Most species of pipefish are usually 35–40 cm in length and generally inhabit sheltered areas in coral reefs, seagrass beds and sandy lagoons. There are approximately 200 species of pipefish.[citation needed]

Reproduction

Male pipefish (Syngnathus acus) with sub-caudal pouch.

Pipefishes, like their seahorse relatives, leave most of the parenting duties to the male. 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 not. Studies have shown that male pipefishes can take a rather sinister role. When their bodily resources are depleted instead of rearing the embryos they may digest them.[2] Some pipefishes may also choose to digest the of embryos of a less-favorable mate.[3]

Sub-caudal pouch of Syngnathus acus, with the young ready to leave the pouch. One side of the membrane of the pouch is pushed aside to admit of a view of its interior.

Male pipefishes have a specially developed area to carry eggs, which are deposited by the female. 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.[4] Many species exhibit polyandry, a breeding system in which one female mates with two or more males. This tends to occur with greater frequency in internal brooding species of pipefishes than with external brooding species. Polyandrous species are also more likely to have females with complex sexual signals such as ornaments.[5]

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.

Genera

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Chisholm, 1911, p. 634.
  2. ^ Sezen, Uzay. "Sinister Cannibals or Nurturing Fathers?". Retrieved 26 October 2012. 
  3. ^ Paczolt KA, Jones AG (2010). "Post-copulatory sexual selection and sexual conflict in the evolution of male pregnancy.". Nature 464 (7287): 401–4. doi:10.1038/nature08861. PMID 20237568. 
  4. ^ Wilson AB, Ahnesjö I, Vincent AC, Meyer A (June 2003). "The dynamics of male brooding, mating patterns, and sex roles in pipefishes and seahorses (family Syngnathidae)". Evolution 57 (6): 1374–86. PMID 12894945. 
  5. ^ Rosenqvist G, Berglund A (2011). "Sexual signals and mating patterns in Syngnathidae.". J Fish Biol 78 (6): 1647–61. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2011.02972.x. PMID 21651521. 
  6. ^ http://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=154405 accessed 19 July 2011

References

Attribution

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Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

 

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