What is a Pipefish?
The Bay Pipefish (Sygnathus leptohynchus) is a member of Syngnathidae – a family of fish that includes Seahorses and Sea Dragons. The Bay Pipefish shares many characteristics with its enigmatic cousins, including plates of bony armor, small tubular mouths, cryptic coloration, and secretive behavior. Like other Pipefish, however, the Bay Pipefish has a long, straight body.
What do they look like?
The Bay Pipefish is a long, thin fish that grows to about a foot in length. Its coloration varies between shades of green and brown. It may be possible that the Bay Pipefish changes its color to match its surroundings, but this is not known for sure. Just like Seahorses and Sea Dragons, the Bay Pipefish has a long tubular mouth formed by fused jaw-bones.
Where are Bay Pipefish found?
The Bay Pipefish inhabits eelgrass beds and shallow estuaries along the Pacific Coast from Baja California to Alaska. Hidden among blades of eelgrass, the long slender fish is almost completely concealed. The eelgrass beds also support an abundance of prey, allowing the Bay Pipefish to thrive. In the Bay Area, the Bay Pipefish can be spotted in eelgrass beds in San Francisco Bay, Suisun Bay, Drakes Estero, and Tomales Bay.
What do they eat?
The Bay Pipefish uses its tubular mouth to suck plankton prey out of the water like a vacuum cleaner, rather than biting it. When it is hunting, the Bay Pipefish remains completely still beneath its prey. Its eyes are capable of binocular vision, allowing it to determine the distance to its prey. When the position is just right, the Bay Pipefish will quickly snap its head up, placing its tiny mouth about an inch from the prey and delivering suction to capture its meal.
How do they reproduce?
Bay Pipefish reproduction begins in the early spring when eelgrass grows and plankton density increases in the water column. Like other male Syngnathids, the male Pipefish has a well-developed brood pouch on the underside of its tail. After the female deposits her eggs within the male's brood pouch, a layer of tissue grows to seal the eggs inside. The male Pipefish carries the embryos for several weeks, providing them with the nutrients, oxygen, and water they need to develop. When ready to hatch, hundreds of Pipefish young split the pouch and emerge into the water, resembling miniature versions of the adults.
What are the threats to Bay Pipefish in the Bay?
The greatest potential threat to the Bay Pipefish in the Bay Area would be the loss of habitat. Luckily for the Bay Pipefish and other eelgrass dependent species, the extent of eelgrass beds in the San Francisco Bay has actually been expanding in recent years. Although there is no commercial fishery for Pipefish species, they are collected for the Chinese medicine trade. At this time Pipefish are abundant, but if the demand for Pipefish by alternative health care markets increases, Pipefish might become as scarce as their Seahorse relatives.
Photo credit: Aquarium of the Bay
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