James T. Doucet, USA
Info
Etymology/derivation of the scientific name
Sygnathus: jaws together; Scovelli: named in honor of Josiah T. Scovell, who helped collect the original specimens (Ross 2001).
Coloration: the body is uniformly brown or dark olive-green, with vertical, parallel, silvery-white stripes on the sides. The bars may appear y-shaped and become broader and more ribbon-like along the tail. The underside of the snout may be unpigmented, and the snout may have an unpigmented ray mid-dorsally. The rays of the anal and pectoral fins are edged with melanophores. The dorsal and caudal fins are more densely pigmented (Ross 2001).
Teeth count:
Counts: 27-36 dorsal fin rays 15-17 rump rings; 30-34 caudal rings (Hubbs et al. 1991). There are 32-33 (30-35) dorsal rays, 2 anal rays, 14 (12-15) pectoral rays (Ross 2001; partly adapted from Dawson 1982).
Body shape: Small, elongated (Ross 2001).
Position of mouth: Has tiny jaws at the end of a tubular snout (Ross 2001).
External morphology: Snout short, 40 to 50 percent of head length; median rump crest ends at anus; lateral caudal ridge with a slight discontinuity and then a backward upward sweep (Hubbs et al. 1991). The body is surrounded by bony rings and has a rounded caudal fin. The snout is short, pelvic fins are absent, and the anal fin is greatly reduced. (Ross 2001).
Distribution (native and introduced)
Occurs in coastal waters from Florida to Mexico; species can migrate considerable distances in coastal currents (Hubbs et al. 1991).
Populations in the southern United States are currently stable (Warren et al. 2000). Habitat associations
Macrohabitat:
Gulf pipefish are commonly found in shallow, heavily vegetated riparian areas of clear, tannin-stained streams and rivers (Hellier 1967; Herald and Dawson 1972) and are often found in the eelgrass beds of estuaries (Joseph 1957; Brown-Peterson et al. 1993). In Texas it has been reported in a reservoir 24 km inland (Viola 1992).
Biology
Spawning season: In most parts of its range, spawning can occur throughout the year (Hellier 1967; Begovas and Wallace 1987), although there is a decline in reproductive activity along the northern Gulf Coast in winter (Joseph 1957).
Spawning site: This fish breeds in fresh, brackish or highly saline water (Hellier 1967; Felly 1987).
Reproductive strategy: The male brood pouch forms at sexual maturity and then remains developed for the rest of the male's life (Ross 2001). Like other syngnathids, gulf pipefish have an elaborate courtship ritual or "love play" that is initiated by the female. The lovemaking consists of the pair swimming vertically and swaying to the surface of the water, then intertwining their bodies and the male rubbing his brood pouch on the bottom (Joseph 1957).
Fertility: The mature eggs are bright orange, oval to pear-shaped and have an average diameter of 1.3 mm (Begovac and Wallace 1988). A male can carry eggs from more than one female in his brood pouch, and the number of embryos in the brood pouch increases with the size of the male (Herald 1959).
Age at maturity: In Lake Pontchartrain, the minimum size of adult fish is 55 mm SL for males and 84 mm SL for females. Fish can mature six months after hatching (Joseph 1957).
Migration:
Longevity: gulf pipefish generally live less than a year (Joseph 1957).
Feeding habits: the majority of the diet consists of small crustaceans: copepods, amphipods, tanaids and isopods. Larger pipefishes (50-89 mm SL) feed more on amphipods, crustacean eggs, ostracods and caridean shrimps. Calanoid, cyclopoid and harpacticois copepods are important food components of all size classes
Growth: Little is known about the age and growth of gulf pipefish (Ross 2001).
Phylogeny and morphologically similar fishes
The gulf pipefish is most similar to the chain pipefish. It differs from it in having 16-17 (as opposed to 19-20) proboscis rings, 31 (as opposed to 35-36) tail rings and a shorter snout. Pipefishes differ from all other freshwater fishes by the absence of pelvic fins and by the fact that their bodies are encased in bony rings (Ross 2001).
Euryhaline. Common in bays, estuaries and seagrass in shallow and deep flats in marine situations as well as under submerged vegetation in adjacent freshwaters. Males incubate eggs in a brood pouch.
Synonym: Siphostoma scovelli Evermann & Kendall, 1896
$slow worm
Sygnathus: jaws together; Scovelli: named in honor of Josiah T. Scovell, who helped collect the original specimens (Ross 2001).
Coloration: the body is uniformly brown or dark olive-green, with vertical, parallel, silvery-white stripes on the sides. The bars may appear y-shaped and become broader and more ribbon-like along the tail. The underside of the snout may be unpigmented, and the snout may have an unpigmented ray mid-dorsally. The rays of the anal and pectoral fins are edged with melanophores. The dorsal and caudal fins are more densely pigmented (Ross 2001).
Teeth count:
Counts: 27-36 dorsal fin rays 15-17 rump rings; 30-34 caudal rings (Hubbs et al. 1991). There are 32-33 (30-35) dorsal rays, 2 anal rays, 14 (12-15) pectoral rays (Ross 2001; partly adapted from Dawson 1982).
Body shape: Small, elongated (Ross 2001).
Position of mouth: Has tiny jaws at the end of a tubular snout (Ross 2001).
External morphology: Snout short, 40 to 50 percent of head length; median rump crest ends at anus; lateral caudal ridge with a slight discontinuity and then a backward upward sweep (Hubbs et al. 1991). The body is surrounded by bony rings and has a rounded caudal fin. The snout is short, pelvic fins are absent, and the anal fin is greatly reduced. (Ross 2001).
Distribution (native and introduced)
Occurs in coastal waters from Florida to Mexico; species can migrate considerable distances in coastal currents (Hubbs et al. 1991).
Populations in the southern United States are currently stable (Warren et al. 2000). Habitat associations
Macrohabitat:
Gulf pipefish are commonly found in shallow, heavily vegetated riparian areas of clear, tannin-stained streams and rivers (Hellier 1967; Herald and Dawson 1972) and are often found in the eelgrass beds of estuaries (Joseph 1957; Brown-Peterson et al. 1993). In Texas it has been reported in a reservoir 24 km inland (Viola 1992).
Biology
Spawning season: In most parts of its range, spawning can occur throughout the year (Hellier 1967; Begovas and Wallace 1987), although there is a decline in reproductive activity along the northern Gulf Coast in winter (Joseph 1957).
Spawning site: This fish breeds in fresh, brackish or highly saline water (Hellier 1967; Felly 1987).
Reproductive strategy: The male brood pouch forms at sexual maturity and then remains developed for the rest of the male's life (Ross 2001). Like other syngnathids, gulf pipefish have an elaborate courtship ritual or "love play" that is initiated by the female. The lovemaking consists of the pair swimming vertically and swaying to the surface of the water, then intertwining their bodies and the male rubbing his brood pouch on the bottom (Joseph 1957).
Fertility: The mature eggs are bright orange, oval to pear-shaped and have an average diameter of 1.3 mm (Begovac and Wallace 1988). A male can carry eggs from more than one female in his brood pouch, and the number of embryos in the brood pouch increases with the size of the male (Herald 1959).
Age at maturity: In Lake Pontchartrain, the minimum size of adult fish is 55 mm SL for males and 84 mm SL for females. Fish can mature six months after hatching (Joseph 1957).
Migration:
Longevity: gulf pipefish generally live less than a year (Joseph 1957).
Feeding habits: the majority of the diet consists of small crustaceans: copepods, amphipods, tanaids and isopods. Larger pipefishes (50-89 mm SL) feed more on amphipods, crustacean eggs, ostracods and caridean shrimps. Calanoid, cyclopoid and harpacticois copepods are important food components of all size classes
Growth: Little is known about the age and growth of gulf pipefish (Ross 2001).
Phylogeny and morphologically similar fishes
The gulf pipefish is most similar to the chain pipefish. It differs from it in having 16-17 (as opposed to 19-20) proboscis rings, 31 (as opposed to 35-36) tail rings and a shorter snout. Pipefishes differ from all other freshwater fishes by the absence of pelvic fins and by the fact that their bodies are encased in bony rings (Ross 2001).
Euryhaline. Common in bays, estuaries and seagrass in shallow and deep flats in marine situations as well as under submerged vegetation in adjacent freshwaters. Males incubate eggs in a brood pouch.
Synonym: Siphostoma scovelli Evermann & Kendall, 1896
$slow worm
