Haliichthys taeniophorus

Shred pipefish ( Haliichthys taeniophorus )

The scraps of pipefish ( Haliichthys taeniophorus ), also called bands - tatters fish, ribbons Nadelpferdchen or bands pipefish, is a Seenadelart that on the coast of New Guinea in the Torres Strait and on the coast of northern Australia from Shark Bay on Darwin occurs to the north Queensland. The Shred pipefish lives in depths up to 16 meters in plant -covered areas and open areas such as tidal channels. Deeper she also lives on open soft soils.

Features

The fish are at least 30 inches long and are very variable in color. The body of caught fish in shallow water is greenish yellow, which is living in deeper zones animals brown to reddish and shows a speckle pattern. He is camouflaged by numerous, often divided, leaf -like dermal appendages. The snout is long and pipette -like.

Discovery

The species was described in 1859 by the British zoologist John Edward Gray, but was known only from dead specimens from trawler catches. Only in the second half of the 20th century pearl divers reported that they have on the north- west Australian coast near Broome a scrap of fish which was previously known only from the South Australian coast seen. More detailed studies revealed that it was already known Seenadelart. The captured with nets copies the characteristic pieces of skin are getting ripped off.

Outer systematics

Haliichthys provided by Kuiter together with the scraps of fish and the genera Solegnathus and Syngnathoides in the subfamily Solegnathinae. Wilson & Rouse showed, however, that Haliichthys is not closely related to the two scraps of fish species and the similar camouflage independently two times must be caused by leaf-like skin appendages. Haliichthys is the sister group to a large clade, the seahorses (Hippocampus ), Hippichthys, Syngnathus and probably the dwarf Nadelpferdchen ( Acentronurinae ) comprises ..