''Solenostomus'', also known as the ghost pipefishes, false pipefishes or tubemouth fishes, is a genus of fishes in the order

Syngnathiformes The Syngnathiformes are an order of ray-finned fishes that includes the leafy seadragons, sea moths, trumpetfishes and seahorses, among others.FishBase (2005)Order Summary for Syngnathiformes Version of 2005-FEB-15. Retrieved 19 Aug 2008. Th ...

. ''Solenostomus'' is the only genus in the family Solenostomidae, and includes six currently recognized species.Family Solenostomida

FishBase. Accessed 1 February 2015. Ghost pipefishes are related to pipefishes and

seahorse A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine Osteichthyes, bony fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. The genus name comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meanin ...

s. They are found in tropical waters of the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

. The animals, none of which are longer than , float near motionlessly, with the mouth facing downwards, around a background that makes them nearly impossible to see. They feed on tiny

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s, sucked inside through their long snout. They live in open waters except during breeding, when they find a coral reef or muddy bottom, changing color and shape to minimize visibility. In many respects, they are similar to the pipefishes, but can be distinguished by the presence of

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...

s, a prominent, spiny,

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 ...

, and star-shaped plates on the skin. Unlike true pipefish, female ghostpipefishes use their enlarged pelvic fins to brood their eggs until they hatch. Two fossil ghost pipefish genera, '' Calamostoma'' and '' Solenorhynchus'', are known from the Eocene of Italy. These are placed in their own extinct subfamily, Solenorhynchinae. left, Ornate ghostpipefish, ''Solenostomus paradoxus''.

Species

* '' Solenostomus armatus'' M. C. W. Weber, 1913 (long-tailed ghost pipefish or armored pipefish) * '' Solenostomus cyanopterus'' Bleeker, 1854 (robust ghost pipefish) * '' Solenostomus halimeda'' J. W. Orr, Fritzsche & Randall, 2002 (Halimeda ghost pipefish) * '' Solenostomus leptosoma'' S. Tanaka (I), 1908 (delicate ghost pipefish) * '' Solenostomus paegnius'' Jordan & Thompson, 1914 (roughsnout ghost pipefish) * '' Solenostomus paradoxus'' (

Pallas Pallas may refer to: Astronomy * 2 Pallas asteroid ** Pallas family, a group of asteroids that includes 2 Pallas * Pallas (crater), a crater on Earth's moon Mythology * Pallas (Giant), a son of Uranus and Gaia, killed and flayed by Athena * Pa ...

, 1770) (ornate ghost pipefish or harlequin ghost pipefish)

References

* *

Tim Flannery Timothy Fridtjof Flannery (born 28 January 1956) is an Australian mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist, conservationist, explorer, author, science communicator Science communication encompasses a wide range of activities tha ...

and Peter Schouten. ''Amazing Animals: Extraordinary Creatures and the Fantastic Worlds They Inhabit''. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2004. Page 116–117. *Orr, JW and Fritzsche, RA. 1993. Revision of the Ghost Pipefishes, Family Solenostomidae (Teleostei: Syngnathoidei). Copeia 1993:168-182.

External links

Photos of the 5 different species of GhostpipefishesVideo of different species of Ghostpipefishes
{{Taxonbar, from=Q264195 Marine fish genera Extant Eocene first appearances Taxa named by Bernard Germain de Lacépède