Seahorses &

Pygmy seahorses are so small and well camouflaged that no one noticed them until a researcher in New Caledonia found them by accident when he was dissecting a Muricella gorgonian. Nine species have been described to date

They are all quite different to other seahorses in that: 1. they have only a single gill opening, and that at the back of their heads; 2. the males have no brood pouch; and 3. the females appear to brood the rather large eggs internally.

Hippocampus bargibanti was the first species found. It's warty surface results from tissue of the Muricella gorgonian growing in it's skin. The camouflage is extremely good. H. satomae is often found on soft corals or hydroids in protected pockets on the side of reef blocks. They are often very pale, and if disturbed, drop down onto the sand below the soft coral and are next to impossible to find.

There are about 80 true species of seahorse. They have a very distinctive horse-shaped head, and the typical bony body-plates of the group. The males have a brood pouch below the anus, on the tail, into which the fertilised eggs are transferred, remaining protected until hatching.

Identification is not always easy as the external features are not always distinctive. The names shown on the images are a best effort at identification.

Ghost Pipefish also covered with segmented bony plates. Here, the females brood the eggs between their much enlarged pelvic fins which are tightly held together to form a pouch.

They have a long planktonic stage, reaching a relatively large size before settling. This accounts for their sudden appearance in numbers in some areas. Rudi Kuiter reports that they seem to have a short lifespan, perhaps just a year or season. Divers report that in some areas they are no longer seen after the young have hatched.

The six species are very variable in both colour and "ornamentation", but all blend well into the background. They are easily overlooked. Genetic studies are needed to determine the true number of species and their interrelationships.

Pipefish and pipehorses are covered in the ridged bony plates typical of the group. Pipehorses look like elongated seahorses, and the males brood the eggs in a pouch, In many species of pipefish, the males carry their eggs in a long groove along their abdomen.

Mating displays in some species is complex as the pair "dance" a paar de deux before actual mating. Dramatic colour changes can occur in the males.

Two separate sections follow with coral pipefish and cleaner pipefish.

Identification is again difficult in many genera as it is dependant on precise anatomical details.

A number of pipefish species live exclusively between the polyps of hard corals. The Mushroom Coral Pipefish (Siokunichtys nigrolineatus) is the best known of these. Bulbonaricus species in Galaxia corals are more of a challenge to find, while finding Apterygocampus in Organpipe Coral Tubipora is more than a challenge.

Soft corals are also the home of some pipefish as in Siokunichtys breviceps.

This group of pipefish are often seen in association with cleaning shrimps and are also active fish-parasite "cleaners". Doryrhamphus and Dunckerocampus are the main genera here.

Shrimpfish characteristically swim upright in large groups. The eggs and very young juveniles are pelagic, but settle on reefs when only a few millimeters long.

Sea Moths (Pegasus sp.) are benthic and often seen in pairs. Both eggs and juveniles are pelagic, accounting for their wide distribution.