''Halicampus brocki'', the tasselled pipefish, or Brock's pipefish, is a species of marine fish of the family
Syngnathidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific, from southern Japan,
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
and the
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
to the central east and west coasts of Australia.
It lives on
coral
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...
and rocky
reefs with
algae
Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...
, to depths of .
[Myers, R.F., 1991. Micronesian reef fishes. Second Ed. Coral Graphics, Barrigada, Guam. P. 298] It can grow to lengths of , and is expected to feed on small
crustaceans
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 ...
, similar to other pipefish.
[ This species is ]ovoviviparous
Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a term used as a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparous and live-bearing viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develop insi ...
, with males carrying eggs and giving birth to live young.[
]
Etymology
The specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
honours Vernon E. Brock
Vernon may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Vernon County, New South Wales
Canada
*Vernon, British Columbia, a city
*Vernon, Ontario
France
* Vernon, Ardèche
*Vernon, Eure
United States
* Vernon, Alabama
* Vernon, Arizona
* Vernon, California
...
who was the Director of the Fish and Game Department in Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
.
Identification
This species can be identified by its slender body, long, branched filaments on the head, and short skin flaps on the body. It is whitish, yellowish, or pale brown, often with brown bars on the snout and pale bars on the body.[Thompson, Vanessa J. & Dianne J. Bray, Halicampus brocki in Fishes of Australia, accessed 01 Dec 2017, http://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/3184]
References
brocki
Marine fish
Taxa named by Earl Stannard Herald
Fish described in 1953
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