Greater pipefish

Great Pipefish ( Syngnathus acus )

The Great Pipefish ( Syngnathus acus ) is the largest occurring in European waters Seenadelart. It was already described in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus, the founder of binomial nomenclature, and thus one of the first described pipefish species.

Its distribution area covers the coasts of the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, ranging there from South Africa to the coast of West Africa and the European Atlantic coast to Norway, the Faroe Islands and the British Isles. The living in the Mediterranean population was described as a separate species, Syngnathus rubescens. This type is now also understood as a synonym of Syngnathus acus.

Features

The Great pipefish has a very elongated, thin body and is up to half a meter long. The snout to the upper permanent mouth is extended pipette -like, the diameter of the spout tube is equal to the eye diameter or smaller. The Great Lakes needle is colored light green to dark brown.

As with all pipefish the body is armored by plates of bone. Between the head and dorsal fin are found 18-19 bone plates. The dorsal fin is supported 33-42 soft rays in the anal fin of only very short 3 In contrast to most other pipefish the Great Lakes needle has a small fan-shaped caudal fin.

Way of life

The Great pipefish lives mainly on coasts and estuaries over sandy, muddy bottoms and gravel soils, usually between algae and seagrass ( Zostera ). They usually stays in shallow water, at depths of up to 15 meters. However, it was found even at depths of 90 to 110 meters over gravel bottom. The Great pipefish feeds on copepods, amphipods and other small crustaceans. The breeding season is in the summer months. The 400 or more by the female laid eggs are transferred during mating by the male, she, wearing five weeks until hatching of the young pipefish at the sponge-like changes of tail.