''Cosmocampus balli'' (Ball's pipefish) is a species of fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is endemic to Hawaii, with observations off Oahu and

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

. It lives is shallow, protected coral reef or rocky

habitats In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

, where it can grow to lengths of . Although little is known about its feeding habits, it is expected to consume small crustaceans, similar to other

pipefishes 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 seah ...

. This species is ovoviviparous, with males carrying eggs and giving birth to live young. Males can brood at .Dawson, C.E., 1985. Indo-Pacific pipefishes (Red Sea to the Americas). The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory Ocean Springs, Mississippi, USA.

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

zoologist Stanley Crittenden Ball (1885-1956) in acknowledgement of his "interest in the fishes of Oceania".

Etymology

References

Further reading