Pipefish

Pipefish are elongated fish that are related to sea horses and belong to the family Syngnathidae. They are roughly 200 species in 51 genera of pipefish (order Gasterosteiformes). Pipefishes are thin, long-bodied fish with bony armour bands around their bodies. They have small mouths and long tubular snouts, as well as a single dorsal fin and a short tail fin. They can be anywhere between 2 and 65 cm (1 to 26 inches) in length, depending on the species. They live in tropical and subtropical environments. They are mostly found in the sea, but some can be found in freshwater and even live there. They have a variety of lifestyles, they like to live along the coast, where they can graze and hide among seagrasses, particularly eelgrasses, or coral reefs. Others dwell in fresh or brackish water and can be found in open waters at depths of up to 400 metres (about 1,300 ft).

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Pipefish (Syngnathinae)

Pipefishes (Syngnathinae) are small fish, along with seahorses and seadragons (Phycodurus and Phyllopteryx), which belong to the Syngnathidae family. It has the look of straight-bodied seahorses with small jaws. The term comes from the snout's unusual shape, which resembles a long tube and ends in a narrow, smallmouth that opens upwards and is toothless. The body and tail are snake-like in appearance, being long, thin, and slender. They each have a skeleton that has been heavily modified and armoured. Because of the multiple longitudinal ridges in this fish's dermal structure, a vertical section through the body appears angular, oval, or round, as it does in most other fish. A dorsal fin is always present and acts as the primary (or sole) motility organ in some species. 

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The ventral fins are always lacking, whereas the other fins are either developed or not. The gill apertures are exceedingly tiny and located towards the gill cover's upper posterior angle. In open water, many are poor swimmers who move slowly by rapidly moving their dorsal fin. 

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Some pipefish species, like seahorses, have prehensile tails. Unlike seahorses, the majority of pipefishes have a caudal fin that can be used for locomotion. Some pipefish species, such as the flagtail pipefish, have more developed caudal fins and are better swimmers.

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Habitat and Distribution

Pipefish are mostly found in the sea, with only a few freshwater pipefish species. They can be found in large numbers along tropical and temperate shores. They are typically 35–40 cm (14–15.5 in) long and like to live in sheltered environments such as coral reefs or seagrass beds. Pipefish are commonly located in shallow areas that are quickly disturbed by industrial runoffs and human activities due to their lack of swimming ability.

Boats and draglines that transfer shoreline silt also have an impact on shorelines. Seagrasses and eelgrasses, which are important in pipefish habitats, suffer as a result of these disruptions. Because of their limited distribution, pipefish have a harder time adapting to new environments. 

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The use of pipefish in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) remedies, notwithstanding the lack of evidence of efficacy beyond placebo, has an effect on pipefish populations. Pipefish are even more exploited because of a belief in their greater level of potency. Syngnathidae in general are in high demand for pseudo-scientific medicinal remedies, but pipefish are even more exploited because of a belief in their higher degree of potency (because they are longer than the more variety of seahorses). Pipefish trade-in aquariums have also risen in recent years.

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Diet

Pipefish are visual eaters, thus sufficient lighting is necessary for them to find food. Because pipefish have a hard time competing for food, they should be kept in a tank containing only other pipefish or seahorses. They are carnivores that eat small crustaceans, plankton, and other living things including small shrimp, copepods, and amphipods with their long snouts. Freshwater pipefish will occasionally consume insects and worms, and larger pipefish will occasionally eat small fish. They have a slim body structure that allows them to get into all the nooks and crannies, but because they have a small digestive tract, they must feed frequently or they will quickly run out of energy. The tank should be well established, with plenty of live rock and macroalgae to support big pod populations, in order to maintain a good diet in a pipefish aquarium.

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Reproduction and Parental Care

Pipefishes, like their seahorse relatives, leave most of the parental responsibilities to the male, who is responsible for all postzygotic care, including giving nutrients and oxygen to the offspring via a placenta-like connection.

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It either broods its offspring on a particular part of its body or in a brood pouch. Brood pouches differ greatly amongst pipefish species, but they all have a small aperture through which female eggs can be placed. The brood pouch can be found anywhere on the pipefish's underside or simply at the base of the tail, as in seahorses. The brood pouch of pipefish in the genus Syngnathus has a ventral seam that can completely cover all of its eggs when packed.

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Eggs adhere to a strip of soft skin on the ventral surface of males’ bodies that has no outer coating in the absence of these pouches. Male brooding is assumed to have evolved in pipefish as a result of the reproductive advantage afforded to pipefish ancestors who learned to place their eggs on males, who could avoid predators and protect them. The courtship between female and male pipefish involves lengthy and complicated shows of the display. Copulation is always preceded by a ritualised dance by both sexes in Syngnathus typhle, for example. The dance features a lot of writhing and shaking gestures, which contrasts with the species' generally highly covert lifestyle. 

Pipefish are more hesitant to conduct their dances when they are threatened or in the presence of a predator. They also copulate less frequently, dance less each copulation, and females transmit more eggs per copulation when the risk of predation is high. Although S. thyphle males prefer to mate with larger females, when they are threatened by predators, they mate at random. Similar ritualistic mating dances were also proposed to aid in reproductive synchrony in Corythoichthys haematopterus, by allowing the female to assess male willingness to spawn so her eggs aren't wasted.

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The female releases her eggs by a small ovipositor into the male brood pouch or onto a particular patch of skin on the male's ventral body surface during pipefish copulation, which marks the end of the courtship dance. The mating pair rises through the water until copulation is complete while the eggs are being transferred.

The male assumes an S-shaped posture at this time and fertilises the eggs while travelling back down the water column. Brood pouches are used by males to release their sperm directly into them, which is then vigorously shaken. When the male pipefish gives birth, the ventral seams are not opened until weeks later.

Egg Formation

Since there is a physical limit to the number of eggs a male pipefish can carry, males are considered the limiting sex. Females can often lay more eggs than males can fit in their brood pouches, resulting in an excess of eggs that need to be cared for. Other factors, such as male pregnancy length and energy investment in progeny, may limit female reproductive success. Male pipefish invest more energy in each zygote than female pipefish because the embryos develop within the male and feed on nutrients needed by him. 

Moreover, they spend more energy per unit of time during each breeding season than females. As a result, in order to recoup energy, some men may consume their embryos rather than continue to parent them in instances where their bodies are depleted of resources. In a manner similar to filial cannibalism reported in many other fish families, pregnant male pipefish can suck nutrition from their broods. Because larger eggs are competitively superior and more likely to develop into full adults, the smallest eggs in a brood of various egg sizes have lower survival rates than larger eggs.

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In other cases, because each male copulates with multiple females, some pipefishes may swallow the eggs of mates who appear to be less fit or desirable. Young are born free-swimming with little or no yolk sac and immediately begin eating. They are self-sufficient from the moment they hatch, and their parents may regard them as food at that time. Others are fully formed but smaller replicas of their parents, immediately adopting their parents' behaviour. Polyandry is a breeding system in which one female mates with two or more males in several species.

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Because male brood capacity is limited in internal-brooding pipefishes, this occurs more frequently than in external-brooding pipefishes. Females in polyandrous species are also more likely to have elaborate sexual cues like ornaments. The polyandrous Gulf pipefish (Syngnathus scovelli), for example, showed considerable sexual dimorphism in terms of decoration area and number, as well as body size.

Types of Pipefish

1. Greater Pipefish

The greater pipefish (Syngnathus acus) belongs to the Syngnathidae family of pipefish. It is the type species of the genus Syngnathus and a marine fish. The bigger pipefish has a long segmented armoured body with an angular cross-section and a stiff look, ranging up to 45 cm long. It is brown to green in colour, with broad alternating light and dark hues throughout the length of it. A long snout with a protruding mouth and a little hump on the top of the body directly below the eyes distinguish it. The fish averages 33 cm to 35 cm in length, with a maximum length of 47 cm reported. They are nearly square in each body segment and are known to be stiff when handled.

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2. Northern Pipefish

The northern pipefish (Syngnathus fuscus) is a fish species found in the northwest Atlantic that belongs to the Syngnathidae family. The body of the northern pipefish is long, narrow, and inflexible, with bony rings encasing it, the length of this pipefish is up to 30.0 cm. The head of the northern pipefish is long and narrow, with a rounded end to the mouth. The dorsal fin spans four to five of the bony rings that span the northern pipefish's body. The brood pouch of this species is made up of two lateral flaps that meet along the fish's central line. It has a rounded caudal fin, a tiny anal fin, and no ventral or pelvic fins. On top, the species is usually olive or brownish. 

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It is usually 10 to 20 cm long but can grow up to 30 cm in length. In freshwater habitats, the Northern Pipefish is frequently viewed as a native species. Northern pipefish eat a variety of creatures present in freshwater habitats, however, research has revealed that zooplankton is the most common organism in pipefish diets.

3. Bay Pipefish

The bay pipefish (Syngnathus leptorhynchus) is a fish native to the Eastern Pacific's eelgrass beds (southern Baja California to the Gulf of Alaska), where its sinuous shape and the green colour blend in with the eelgrass blades. Male pipefish, like other seahorse members, care for the eggs laid by their female partners in specialised pouches.

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4. Gulf Pipefish

The Gulf pipefish (Sygnathus scovelli) belongs to the Sygnathidae family. The gulf pipefish is a long, elongated fish with a ringed body. They're brown or dark olive green in hue, with silvery-white vertical bars running down the sides, occasionally forming a Y shape. Although most gulf pipefish rarely exceed 100 mm, they can reach a maximum size of 183 mm. The trunk rings of this species are 18-19, and the tail rings are 30-34. The dorsal fin is a medium-sized fin that spans 2-4 trunk rings and 3-5 tail rings in length. The dorsal fin of females is generally banded. The caudal fin is circular and present. The pelvic fins are gone, and the anal fin is significantly reduced. 

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5. Ghost Pipefish

Solenostomus is a genus of fishes in the order Syngnathiformes that includes ghost pipefishes, false pipefishes, and tube mouth fishes. Solenostomus is the only genus in the Solenostomidae family, with six species currently identified. Pipefishes and seahorses are connected to ghost pipefishes. They can be found in the Indo-tropical Pacific's waters. The animals, none of which are longer than 15 centimetres (5.9 in), float immobile over a background that makes them practically impossible to see. They eat microscopic crustaceans that they pull into their long nose. Except during breeding, when they seek out a coral reef or muddy bottom, they reside in open seas, changing colour and shape to reduce visibility.

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6. Dragonface Pipefish

Messmate pipefish (Corythoichthys haematopterus) is a marine fish species belonging to the Syngnathidae family. It is found all over the Indo-Pacific region's tropical waters, from the east coast of Africa to the Vanuatu Islands. This species can grow to be 19.8 cm long. It is occasionally seen in aquariums and is known as the dragonface pipefish. Bloodspot pipefish, reef pipefish, reef top pipefish, dragon pipefish, and yellow-streaked pipefish are all common names. The messmate pipefish has biofluorescence, which means it re-emits blue or ultraviolet light as yellow and appears different than when exposed to white light. Intraspecific communication and concealment may be aided by biofluorescence.

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IUCN Ranking of Pipefish (Syngnathinae Family)

Seahorses, pipefishes, pipehorses, and the leafy, ruby, and weedy seadragons are all members of the Syngnathidae (or "Syngnathids"). The name comes from the Greek words ‘syn’, which means "fused" or "together," and 'gnathus,' which means "with the jaw." The Syngnathidae are members of the Order Syngnathiformes, which has only one other Mediterranean representative: the longspine snipefish, Macroramphosus Scolopax (Linnaeus, 1758) (Family: Centriscidae), which is classified as Least Concern at sea level. Syngnathids are one of a kind fishes in that they have male pregnancies and live young.  Because they produce few offspring and have a high level of site loyalty, they may be at risk of extinction. The Mediterranean Sea is home to 13 species, all of which have been assessed for inclusion in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species at the Mediterranean level. None of the species is Mediterranean endemic.

Pipefish (Syngnathinae) is a tiny fish subfamily that is related to sea horses. There are roughly 200 species in 51 genera of pipefish (order Gasterosteiformes) They can be anywhere between 2 and 65 cm in length, depending on the species. Pipefish in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) remedies, notwithstanding the lack of evidence of efficacy, has an effect on pipefish populations. Seagrasses and eelgrasses, which are important in pipefish habitats, suffer as a result of disruptions