Spiny pipehorse

Taxobox
name = Spiny pipehorse
status = VU | status_system = IUCN2.3


image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Syngnathiformes
familia = Syngnathidae
genus = "Solegnathus"
species = "S. spinosissimus"
binomial = "Solegnathus spinosissimus"
binomial_authority = (Günther, 1870)

The spiny pipehorse, "Solegnathus spinosissimus", is a pipefish of the family Syngnathidae, found in the southwest Pacific Ocean on rocky or coral reefs to depths of 230 m. Length is up to 50 cm. Spiny pipehorses are yellow-orange with seven blackish bars around the body and a bright orange band in front of the anus.

The spiny pipehorse is an elongate fish, covered in bony armour plates, and with a prehensile tail. Each armour segment is comprised of a circle of flat scutes, domed in the centre and bearing a short spine. The tubular snout is moderately long and the tip of the tapering tail is used to anchor the fish to bottom growth while it feeds on drifting planktonic animals.

The eggs are laid by the females but brooded by the males in a brood pouch beneath the abdomen.

References

*
* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, "Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand", (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8