Pipefish

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Pipefish
Acentronura sp.

Acentronura sp.

Systematics
Sub-cohort : Neoteleostei
Acanthomorphata
Spinefish (Acanthopterygii)
Perch relatives (Percomorphaceae)
Order : Pipefish (Syngnathiformes)
Family : Pipefish
Scientific name
Syngnathidae
Rafinesque , 1810

The pipefish (Syngnathidae) are a family of relatively small and well camouflaged, slender bony fish from the order of the pipefish-like (Syngnathiformes). The well-known seahorses ( hippocampus ) also belong to them .

distribution

Pipefish inhabit the coasts of all the world's oceans . The greatest biodiversity lives in the waters around Australia . Pipefish live on the coasts of America from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego . 37 species also live in brackish water and 18, most of the genus Microphis , in fresh water . They prefer shallow water in quiet bays and reefs with little current, as well as overgrown areas, algae fields and seagrass meadows.

The small pipefish ( Syngnathus rostellatus ) also lives in the North Sea and the western Baltic Sea , the great pipefish ( Syngnathus acus ) in the Mediterranean Sea , on the Atlantic coast of Western Europe and in the southern North Sea, the grass needle ( Syngnathus typhle ) lives in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Black Sea and in the Baltic Sea, in the bays and lagoons of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania coast and in the same area, the thread-like small snake needle ( Nerophis ophidion ) also lives in the estuaries, between algae , especially the sea ​​string ( Chorda filum ), a brown alga .

features

The body of the pipefish is elongated and surrounded by ring-shaped bone plates that form a solid body armor and severely restrict the mobility of the trunk. They therefore have reduced core muscles and swim with their pectoral and dorsal fin . The main drive organ is the dorsal fin, which executes wave-like movements from front to back and is turned sideways at rest. Seahorses fold their fan-shaped dorsal fin. The main purpose of the pectoral fins is maneuverability.

The dorsal fin is usually supported by 15 to 60 soft fin rays. The anal fin is very small, has 2 to 6 fin rays, or is absent. The pectoral fins have 10 to 23 fin rays. These fins are absent from the genus Bulbonarcius and the adults of some other genera. The pelvic fins are always missing, the caudal fin in some genera. In the latter (e.g. the seahorses) the tail stalk is often designed as a prehensile tail. They are slow swimmers. The gill openings are shifted towards the back, are very small and can be closed with a membrane-like valve as an adaptation to the suction snap . The testicles are tubular. Pipefish can move their eyes independently. Many pipefish are camouflaged, while others, especially tropical species that inhabit coral reefs , are very colorful.

Male Honshu pipefish ( Doryrhamphus japonicus ) with eggs on the belly

Pipefish feed mainly on various small crustaceans, larvae of other animals and very small fish. You are toothless. The mouth is at the end and designed as a suction tube with which they catch their prey, mostly small crustaceans , with suction snaps . This suction snap works - unlike other fish - via a spring mechanism in which muscle force builds up tension in the connective tissue, which is then suddenly discharged by "triggering" (see crossbow ), with very high suction speeds occurring (of course only over short distances effective). The hyoid and operculum are involved in the mechanism in a way that is not yet fully understood. The tuft gills, because of which the Syngnathids and Pegasids were previously summarized as “Lophobranchii”, are probably an adaptation to this sucking snap.

Reproduction

Pipefish are mostly monogamous in pairs. After the courtship , which is often initiated by swimming synchronously or one behind the other, the males take over the eggs from the female in order to carry them on the underside of the belly and tail, which has changed like a sponge. In the seahorses, the males have a brood pouch in which the female lays the eggs. The eggs are probably fertilized there too. After one to two weeks, the already relatively large young needles hatch, spread over numerous days, and immediately eat tiny zooplankton organisms. According to the location of the breeding organs, belly-brooders (gastrophori) and tail-brooders (urophori) are distinguished.

Reproduction has often been observed in aquariums and young needles could be raised. Adequate feed is a prerequisite for successful rearing.

A fossil Syngnathus species and a snipe knife fish ( Aeoliscus ascheronicus ) from the Pliocene in the Senckenberg Nature Museum in Frankfurt.

Fossil record

The first pipefish are known to be found in fossils from the northern Italian Monte Bolca Formation, which was formed from Tethys deposits in the Eocene . There are the genera Pseudosyngnathus , which still had an incomplete skin armor, and Syngnathus , which still exists today. Seahorses have been recorded since the Pliocene .

Internal system

The determination of the individual genera and species is based primarily on the number and location of the body and tail rings, the length of the tail and the location and nature of the male breeding organs. There are over 50 genera, around 290 described species and many more undescribed ones.

The simplified cladogram (right) shows the likely internal system:

  Pipefish  
  Urophori   






 Syngnathinae ( Syngnathus )


   

 Dwarf needle horse (Acentronurinae)


   

 Seahorse ( hippocampus )


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 Hippichthys



   

 Haliichthyinae



   

 Syngnathoidinae


   

 "Syngnathinae" ( Hypselognathus ,  Kaupus  and  Vanacampus )




   

 Needle horses and shrimp fish (Solegnathinae)



   

 "Syngnathinae" ( Corythoichthys and Stigmatopora )



  Gastrophori  

 Snake needles (Nerophinae)


   

 Flag-tail pipefish (Doryrhamphinae)




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Evolution of pipefish.

Gastrophori

In the gastrophori , the breeding space of the males lies under the abdomen. In most cases, the fish still have a tail fin.

Urophori

Brown ribbon pipefish
( Corythoichthys amplexus )
Wing pipefish
( Halicampus macrorhynchus )
Denise pygmy seahorse
( Hippocampus denise )

In the Urophori , the breeding space of the males is under the tail.

swell

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sam Van Wassenbergh, and Peter Aerts (2008) Rapid pivot feeding in pipefish: flow effects on price and evaluation of simple dynamic modeling via computational fluid dynamics. JR Soc. Interface. 5: 1291-1301. doi: 10.1098 / rsif.2008.0101
  2. ^ Karl Albert Frickhinger: Fossil Atlas of Fishes . Mergus-Verlag, Melle, 1999, ISBN 3-88244-018-X
  3. ^ N. Wilson, & G. Rouse (2010). Convergent camouflage and the non-monophyly of 'seadragons' (Syngnathidae: Teleostei): suggestions for a revised taxonomy of syngnathids. Zoologica Scripta doi: 10.1111 / j.1463-6409.2010.00449.x
  4. ^ AB Wilson, JW Orr: The evolutionary origins of Syngnathidae: pipefishes and seahorses. Journal of Fish Biology, Volume 78, Issue 6, pages 1603–1623, June 2011 doi: 10.1111 / j.1095-8649.2011.02988.x

Web links

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