A Thinner Finner - Syngnathus leptorhynchus

Everyone knows about sea horses - the amazing, slow-moving fish that capture our imaginations by their unusual habits and appearance. But how many people are familiar with this sea-horse relative, the pipefish? Like sea horses, pipefish are slow-moving fish that feed on tiny animals in the water column - the zooplankton. Pipefish are found in most of the world's oceans, but are more common in tropical waters, where they usually stay near coral reefs or other bottom surfaces.

The BAY PIPEFISH, Syngnathus leptorhynchus, lives on the West Coast of North America from Baja California, Mexico to Sitka, Alaska. It is most commonly found in bays among eelgrass (Zostera) where it is effectively camouflaged by its green color and long, thin shape resembling the blades of eelgrass. The scientific name, Syngnathus leptorhynchus, means means "slender snout with jaws that are locked together". As in sea horses, the mouth acts like a vacuum cleaner, sucking in plankton food, rather than biting its prey.

Also like sea horses, BAY PIPEFISH and other pipefish have an interesting method of raising their young. The father takes an active role in raising the offspring in a pouch on his belly where the female lays her eggs. The fertilized eggs develop through all of their embryonic stages in the males pouch, until they are finally released as swimming juveniles.