The black-striped pipefish (''Syngnathus abaster'') is a species of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

in the family

Syngnathidae The Syngnathidae is a family of fish which includes seahorses, pipefishes, and seadragons (''Phycodurus'' and '' Phyllopteryx''). The name is derived from grc, σύν (), meaning "together", and (), meaning "jaw". The fused jaw is one of the t ...

. It is found in the eastern

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

from the southern Gulf of Biscay to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, also in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

and

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

s. As the

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

it is mentioned in the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

and fresh waters of its basin.

General information

''Syngnathus abaster'', common name the black-striped

pipefish Pipefishes or pipe-fishes (Syngnathinae) are a subfamily of small fishes, which, together with the seahorses and seadragons (''Phycodurus'' and '' Phyllopteryx''), form the family Syngnathidae. Description Pipefish look like straight-bodied se ...

, is a close relative of the seahorse. It is usually found in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

, living in relatively shallow waters around seaweed and sea grass, and is also found in

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

s. Pipefish are true

. Their long, narrow bodies have an external skeleton made of bony plates, and their mouths are very small and pipe-shaped. They swim using a side to side wiggling motion that is similar to the movement of a

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

or by undulation of their

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

. The pipefish's diet is mainly small

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...

s, fish fry, and

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

. The roles males and females take on in reproduction are similar to those of male and female seahorses. The males carry the

fertilized Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a new individual organism or offspring and initiate its development. Proce ...

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

in specialized pouches on their bodies. The eggs mature in this pouch, and the young are expelled through a longitudinal slit in the front of the pouch.

Distribution

The black-striped pipefish is found in coastal waters and in the lower reaches of rivers in the

Caspian Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian peopl ...

, Black and Mediterranean Sea basins, along the European Atlantic coast from Gibraltar north to the southern part of the Bay of Biscay; in the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

reaching west to the frontier between Romania and Hungary, as well as in the

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...

up to

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

. It was introduced into reservoirs of the middle and lower

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...

with mysids brought from the

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

estuary, where it is now expanding its range and has been recorded to the south of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Environment and habitat

Pipefish are mainly marine, with a few species also found in freshwater. ''Syngnathus abaster'' is a marine

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

living in shallow-water

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the or ...

in the Mediterranean Sea.

Appearance and body type

The long bodies are encased in bony plates resembling

scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number w ...

. These plates are a protective armour and serve as

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

. Even though pipefish have these bony plates, their bodies are very flexible and have the ability to move much like snakes do. Their elongated head looks like a

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

head and resembles that of the related

seahorses A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meaning "sea monster" or " ...

. They also have the ability to wrap their tails around sea grasses to anchor themselves, just as sea horses do. Unlike sea horses, pipefish swim horizontally. Another unique feature is their long snout, which is where the pipefish gets its name.

Diet

As stated above, a pipefish's

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

consists mostly of newborn fish and small

s. As the pipefish does not chew its food, the prey needs to be small enough to fit in the mouth and be swallowed whole. The long pipe-like mouth of the pipefish is used as a sucking tool when it eats. The pipefish wraps its tail around sea grass, using it as an anchor. It patiently waits until its prey swims close, and then sucks it up, puffing out its cheeks in the process. The tube is dilated which creates a small, strong current in the water near the fish's mouth. According to Guenther Sterba, author of ''Freshwater Fishes of the World'', the current is accompanied by a sucking noise, much like a small vacuum cleaner. Many species of large fish prey on pipefish, as do otters and

blue crabs Blue crab may refer to: * Blue Crab 11, an American sailboat design * ''Callinectes sapidus'' – Chesapeake or Atlantic blue crab of the West Atlantic, introduced elsewhere * ''Cardisoma guanhumi'' – blue land crab of the West Atlantic * '' Disc ...

. This particular species of pipefish has no real defense against predators aside from camouflage and swimming away, making it an easy target.

Reproduction

The

sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...

es can generally be differentiated by the number of bands on the body. Males have a larger number of colored bands than females do. During

mating In biology, mating is the pairing of either opposite- sex or hermaphroditic organisms for the purposes of sexual reproduction. ''Fertilization'' is the fusion of two gametes. ''Copulation'' is the union of the sex organs of two sexually reprod ...

, the fish intertwine as part of a

courtship Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private m ...

dance. The female transfers the

to the male's brooding pouch through her long ovipositor. The brooding pouch is located near the anus of the pipefish. The eggs stay in the male's brooding pouch until the young are developed enough to be independent. At this point, the young exit the pouch with the help of muscular contractions of the male's body. If the young sense

danger Danger is a lack of safety and may refer to: Places * Danger Cave, an archaeological site in Utah * Danger Island, Great Chagos Bank, Indian Ocean * Danger Island, alternate name of Pukapuka Atoll in the Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean * Danger Isla ...

or feel threatened, they are able to re-enter the brooding pouch.

References

''Syngnathus abaster'' at FishBase
* Burgess, Warren, and Dr. Hebert R. Axelrod. Pacific Marine Fishes Book One. T.F.H Publications, 1973. * Perlmutter, Alfred. Guide to Marine Fishes. New York:Branhall House 1961. * Sterba, Guenther. Freshwater Fishes of the World. New York: Viking Press. * Wells, Lawrence A. The Observer's Book of Sea Fishes. New York: Frederick Wayne and Co, Ltd, 1959.

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q998053 black-striped pipefish Fish of the Adriatic Sea Fish of the Black Sea Fish of the Mediterranean Sea black-striped pipefish Taxonomy articles created by Polbot