The ornate ghost pipefish or harlequin ghost pipefish, ''Solenostomus paradoxus'', is a false pipefish of the
family Solenostomidae
''Solenostomus'', also known as the ghost pipefishes, false pipefishes or tubemouth fishes, is a genus of fishes in the order Syngnathiformes. ''Solenostomus'' is the only genus in the family Solenostomidae, and includes six currently recognized ...
. The species name comes from the Greek ''paradoxos'', referring to this fish's unusual external features. Ornate ghost pipefish are found in the Western
Pacific and the
Indian Ocean along reef edges prone to strong currents from the
Red Sea to
Tonga.
They reach a maximum length of 12 cm. They vary in color from red or yellow to black and are almost transparent. Although relatively common, ornate ghost pipefish are very well-camouflaged and difficult to find.
[Dianne J Bray & Vanessa J Thompson, 2011, Ornate Ghostpipefish, Solenostomus paradoxus, in Fishes of Australia, accessed 07 Oct 2014, http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/3165] It occurs either as solitary individuals or in pairs, among the branches of
gorgonians, in floating weeds, or
crinoids where the feed on
mysids and small
benthic
The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...
shrimp.
[
The IUCN conservation status of ''Solenostomus paradoxus'' has been evaluated as " Least Concern".][
]
References
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External links
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Solenostomus
Fish described in 1770
Taxa named by Peter Simon Pallas
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN
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