The deepbody pipefish (''Kaupus costatus'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

pipefish Pipefishes or pipe-fishes (Syngnathinae) are a subfamily of small fishes, which, together with the seahorses and seadragons ('' Phycodurus'' and '' Phyllopteryx''), form the family Syngnathidae. Description Pipefish look like straight-bodied s ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

where it is only found along the southern coast. This species grows to a length of SL. This species is the only known member of the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Kaupus'' which is named in honour of the

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

Johann Jakob Kaup Johann Jakob von Kaup (10 April 1803 – 4 July 1873) was a German naturalist. A proponent of natural philosophy, he believed in an innate mathematical order in nature and he attempted biological classifications based on the Quinarian system. Kaup ...

(1803-1873).

Description

The deep body pipefish has a very elongated body with the main part of the body being laterally flattened in adult females, being much deeper than the male's bodies. The head is in line with the body and the snout is of moderate length, comprising 32-40% of the length of the head and having a depth of 32-56% of its length. There is a ridge along the middle of the snout which merges with the supraorbital ridges< The ridges on the opercules are straight and cross at least half the opercules in subadults and adults. The upper ridge on the trunk and the tail break near the base of the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

, the lower trunk and tail ridges are continuous while the flank ridge on the trunk is not confluent with the tail ridges. The tail is not prehensile. The dorsal fin is situated nearer to the head than to tip of tail and has a moderately long base. The

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

is very small and is located below the posterior half of dorsal fin, the

caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

is small and rounded and a

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

is present. The

meristics Meristics is an area of zoology and botany which relates to counting quantitative features of animals and plants, such as the number of fins or scales in fish. A meristic (countable trait) can be used to describe a particular species, or used to i ...

are that the dorsal fin has 30-36 soft rays, the anal fin has 3-4, the pectoral fin has 9-11 and the caudal fin has 7-10, although this is normally 9-10. The body has 16-18 rings on the trunk and the tail has 35-38. The fish is red or reddish-brown in colour with very small blue, yellow or white spots on the back with undulating, fine markings of the same colours on the head and tail. The adult males and the subadults occasionally have a narrow, blackish, midlateral stripe on the part of tail near the body. The adult females have bluish streaks, lines and small spots above their lateral trunk ridge, and with an obvious blue patch on each trunk ring below the line of the lateral ridge.

Distribution

''Kaupus costatus'' is

to the coastal waters of southern Australia and occurs in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, and off

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, the

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...

and the

Great Australian Bight The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight (geography), bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern Coast, coastline of mainland Australia. There are two definitions for its extent—one by the Internation ...

Habitat and biology

''Kaupus costatus'' occur among seagrass and algal beds, in mangroves, and in estuaries. to depths of . It prefers silty environments but these have to have relatively clear water. Its dietary habits are little known but it is food is thought to consist of small planktonic and possibly benthic crustaceans as in other Australian

es. This species is

ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparity, oviparous and live-bearing viviparity, viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develo ...

and the males brood the fertilised eggs beneath their tail before giving live birth to the fry. The size of broods is relatively small, with 3 to 25 eggs in each brood, and the newly hatched larvae have a length of .

Conservation

''Kaupus costatus'' is a listed marine species under the Australian

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...

, it is also protected in all the states in which it occurs by local fisheries management acts. The preferred habitat of this species are undisturbed beds of sea grass, especially ''

Zostera ''Zostera'' is a small genus of widely distributed seagrasses, commonly called marine eelgrass, or simply seagrass or eelgrass. The genus ''Zostera'' contains 15 species. Ecology '' Zostera marina'' is found on sandy substrates or in estuarie ...

'' beds, and the decline of these beds is a threat to this species.

References

External links

Fishes of Australia : ''Kaupus costatus''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2233233 Syngnathidae Marine fish of Southern Australia Fish described in 1921 Taxa named by Edgar Ravenswood Waite