Greater pipefish
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| Greater pipefish | ||||||||||||||
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| Syngnathus acus |
The Greater pipefish, Syngnathus acus, is a pipefish of the family Syngnathidae.
The Greater pipefish has a long segmented armoured body, angular in cross section and stretching up 45cm long with its stiff appearance. It ranges a color brown to green in with broad alternating light and dark hue along it. Its customized by a long snout with mouth on end and a slight hump on the top of the body just behind the eyes. common on southerly and westerly coasts in a variety of habitats, often amongst seaweeds and seagrass. The fish is generally lenghthed to 33 cm to 35 cm in length with a reported maximum length of 47 cm. They are almost square in each segment of the body, and known to feel rigid when handled.
The Greater pipefish has distinctive body rings which are a sandy brown with darker bars covering his body in between.[1] The anatomy of fish vary through the sex. The top third of the females belly is deep (when egg bound), twice the breadth of the lower two thirds below the vent. The male is the "tailing" with the twin folds below the vent. The folds of the skin make the middle third and during the "brooding" of the young they swell in size until the young are released from the pouch (at a size of 22 mm to 35 mm).
The Greater Pipefish is found all around the British Isles and is regularly found in the Mediterranean Sea. Its habitat is usually among seaweed and seagrass. It feeds on live mysids and small prawns.
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[edit] References
- Greater Pipefish Anatomy of the fish in black and white
- Greater Pipefish Greater Pipefish Syngnathus acus Jim Hall
