Ornate Ghost Pipefish

Ornate Ghost Pipefish

SIZE: to 11 cm. ID: Male -Short skin filaments on snout and body and fins with jagged edges giving "spiky appearance." Solitary, small groups or more commonly in male/female pairs; usually remain in restricted home range. Coastal, lagoon and outer reefs in 4 -35 m. Indo-West Pacific: E-. Africa to Indonesia, Philippines. Marshall Is. in Micronesia, Solomon Is., E. Australia and Fiji.

Ornate Ghost Pipefish. Female Variation

ID: It is believed that Ghost Pipefishes have an annual life cycle, with the majority of their life spent in the pelagic as larvae before settling to the bottom and becoming sexually mature.

Ornate Ghost Pipefish. Male Variation

ID:Highly variable colors usually dependent on habitat. The most common color pattern is displayed by the first individual pictured in this series.

Ornate Ghost Pipefish. Female Variation

ID:Anecdotal evidence suggest that all ghost pipefishes settle as males and later, with proper environmental or social cues some change into females. The sexual change signals a growth spurt and the development of a large brooding pouch formed by the ventral fins attached to the abdomen wall, which many hold up to 300 fertilized eggs and larvae in varying developmental stages.

Ornate Ghost Pipefish. Female Variation

ID:Frequently hover head down among arms of crinoids, black corals, gorgonians and soft corals. Feed primarily on tiny crustaceans which are snapped from open water or off the bottom.

Ornate Ghost Pipefish. Juvenile

ID: Thespecies is almost fully grown when they settle to the sea floor after a lengthy pelagic larval stage Recently settled individuals have large wispy transparent tails with silver to white tips on the tail and dorsal fin spines. As they mature, in days or weeks after settling, the large rounded tails gradually become smaller and acquire pigmentation.

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