The estuarine pipefish or river pipefish (''Syngnathus watermeyeri'') 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 li ...

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 tra ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and has been sporadically recorded in the

estuarine 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 ...

portions of the

Kariega Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port El ...

, Kasouga, Bushmans, East Kleinemonde and West Kleinemonde rivers. It can be readily distinguished from another southern African pipefish with which it shares its habitat, ''S. temminckii'', by its much shorter snout. The estuarine pipefish is most commonly found in beds of the eelgrass '' Zostera capensis''.

Conservation status

The estuarine pipefish was declared extinct in 1994, but was rediscovered in 2006 in areas where it had not been reported in over four decades. This pipefish is Critically Endangered due to both natural and human threats to the brackish estuaries and local eelgrass beds in which it lives.

Captive breeding

A captive population of ''Syngnathus watermeyeri'' is held at

uShaka Marine World uShaka Marine World is a theme park that opened on 30 April 2004 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

Etymology

The type was a female of collected in the Bushmans River and sent to

J.L.B. Smith James Leonard Brierley Smith (26 September 1897 – 8 January 1968) was a South African ichthyologist, organic chemist, and university professor. He was the first to identify a taxidermied fish as a coelacanth, at the time thought to be long e ...

by F.L.E. Watermeyer, whom Smith honoured in the newly described species' specific name.

References

river pipefish Fauna of South Africa Endemic fish of South Africa Freshwater fish of South Africa Taxa named by J. L. B. Smith river pipefish Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Syngnathiformes-stub