''Histiogamphelus cristatus'', known as Macleay's crested pipefish or rhino pipefish, is a species of marine fish belonging to the family
Sygnathidae.
[ This species can be found in a variety of marine habitats such as ]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 orde ...
beds, sandy ocean bottoms, and estuaries
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
, surrounding south and southwestern Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.[Dawson, C.E. 1985. Indo-Pacific Pipefishes (Red Sea to the Americas). The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory Ocean Springs, Mississippi, USA.][Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Seahorses, Pipefishes and Their Relatives: A Comprehensive Guide to Syngnathiformes. TMC Publishing, Chorleywood, England.][Kendrick, A.J. and Hyndes, G.A. 2003. Patterns in the abundance and size-distribution of syngnathid fishes among habitats in a seagrass-dominated marine environment. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 56: 1–10.] Their main source of food are 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 ...
s found in the water column or in sediments.[ Males of the species brood eggs and give birth to live offspring.][
]
References
External links
''H. cristatus''
at Fishbase
''H. cristatus''
at Fishes of Australia
''H. cristatus''
at Australian Museum
Syngnathidae
Fish described in 1881
{{syngnathiformes-stub