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• elongate, slender
• body: covered with bony rings
• 1 d
• a: very small/absent
• c: often prehensile

PIPEFISHES, SEAHORSES

The pipefishes and their relatives the seahorses are characterized by a long, slender body that is composed of a series of ring-like, bony segments. They have a very small gill opening, no spines in the fins, no pelvic fins, a single dorsal fin, and a very small anal fin (dorsal, anal, and/or pectoral fins absent on a few species). Most species are seldom seen because of their habitat of remaining in crevices. Perhaps the most unusual peculiarity displayed by this family is their habit of male egg incubation. The female deposits her eggs on the underside of the male, usually in a pouch or on a specially vascularised surface. The "pregnant" male then carries these until hatching occurs.

Worldwide the family contains about 257 species of pipefishes belonging to more than 53 genera and approximately 30 species of seahorses in the single genus Hippocampus. The pipefishes of the Indo-Pacific region were comprehensively reviewed by Dawson (1985). In our region there are five species of pipefishes in five genera, and one species of seahorse.

References

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