Ghost Pipefish of the Indo - Pacific - Neville Coleman

  There are now thought to be 5 described species of Ghost Pipefish inhabiting
the waters of the Indo - Pacific. 
However, as with everything in nature this may not be the last word.
With such an unbelievable array of appendages, sexual dimorphism and so many variations in mimicry to contend with, it has taken fish taxonomists many years to provide an accurate picture of the various species of ghost pipefish that range across the region.

 The ornate ghost pipefish Solenostomus paradoxus has a number of variable colour forms ranging from red and yellows to black with gold markings, depending on its original host.  This male was found in soft coral at 10 metres Loloata Island, Papua New Guinea.( photo: Neville Coleman)

  A  reddish pregnant female ornate ghost pipefish has a full brood pouch and lived beneath the stern of a wreck covered in red sponge. It was hovering around a short corkscrew black coral and was accompanied by a very small male with the same colour pattern. ( 20m Loloata Island, Papua New Guinea) ( photo: Neville  Coleman)

 The Halimeda ghost pipefish  Solenostomus halimeda  is only found in the vicinity of Halimeda coralline algae beds and can be green or grey in colour. This species appears to me smaller than other species and the female reaches a size of only 70 mm. ( 8m Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea)  ( Copyright Photo: Roger Steene)

  Employing a head down stance and mimicking its host/model's colour and texture (gorgonian sea whip Junceela sp.) a Halimeda ghost pipefish Solenostomus halimeda has outgrown the thickness of the sea whip it settled near when juvenile, yet still mimics its host when adult. ( 12m Milne bay, Papua New Guinea) ( photo : Neville  Coleman)

 This robust ghost pipefish Solenostomus cyanopterus has selected to mimic dead seagrass, even to the point of lying flat on the bottom and taking on a pattern of coralline algae normally found on its model. ( 20m Loloata Island, Papua New Guinea) ( photo: Neville Coleman)

Much of the uncertainty has come about due to the incredible ability shown by ghost pipefishes to mimic the colour and forms of their models. Ghost pipefish are known to mimic or use the following marine life as camouflage to avoid detection: feather stars, live seagrass, dead seagrass, black coral, hydroids, soft coral, sea whips, sea fans, algae and sponges.  It is also proposed that they can also alter colour to suit new surroundings.
Individuals of some forms such as the hairy ghost pipefish are thought to settle out of the plankton as a larval form and select a host or model, which they then inhabit and grow up beside. As they grow they take on the colour and characteristics of their model, the purple, or rusty coloured blue-green algae.

    Until recently, the hairy ghost pipefish was once thought to be a new species.  Since the first one was discovered they were very rare for over 30 years and still not easy to find.  Here a male rough-snouted ghost pipefish Solenostomus paegnius peeks out from beneath his much larger mate. ( 15m Milne bay, Papua New Guinea) ( photo: Neville  Coleman) 

NATURAL HISTORY

Feeding 

Ghost pipefishes are known to feed on minute forms of crustaceans such as mysid shrimps and other similar forms that inhabit the water column or live close to the bottom. They may also target small crustaceans that live on their hosts.  When feeding, they generally exhibit a head down stance. Aproaching stealthily,the prey is sucked up by a trapdoor- like mouth at the end of the long snout.

  It does not take too much imagination to see that this female ornate ghost pipefish and its mate have been around this crinoid feather star for some time, as their camouflage is bordering on perfect. ( 8m Milne bay, Papua New Guinea)      ( Photo:  Jorina van der Westhuizen)

Reproduction

Unlike their relatives, the seahorses,  pipe fish and leafy and weedy sea dragons, it is the female ghost pipefish which incubates the eggs. The brood pouch consists of well -developed ventral fins which hook together with small ventro - lateral body spines along the upper edge. 

Females are much larger than males growing up to 110mm while males may only reach 60mm.  In some cases there may be two males present with a female and eggs are  fertilised on regular basis by a male, even up to several days before hatching.  Young appear to reach larval stage fairly quickly and swimming larvae are ejected to go their own way in the plankton.  They have a long planktonic larval stage and most species are widespread across a wide expanse of oceans.
 There are some thoughts that males may be able to alter their sex to turn into females should the right circumstances occur.  However, this requires verification in the field as observations were made in aquaria.

 Large pregnant female ornate ghost pipefish with a very full egg pouch and two attending males. All three show exactly the same colour pattern which mimics the colour and to some extent the features of the hydroid host. ( 8m Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea)  ( Photo: Jorina van der Westhuizen)

  With one male standing by the closest male takes the initiative and lays its lower body across the female signalling to the female that he wishes to mate ( fertilize her eggs) by vibrating his entire body. ( 8m Milne bay, Papua New Guinea)
( Photo: Jorina van der Westhuizen)

   The  female responds by opening her egg pouch and the male positions his ventral opening at the top of the pouch and squirts several bursts of sperm into the cavity.  What is amazing is that it happened on several occasions , yet the babies in the pouch that I could see were almost fully formed larvae with eyes and body shapes. ( 8m Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea) ( Photo: Jorina van der Westhuizen)

Females are much larger than males growing up to 110mm while males may only reach 60mm.  In some cases there may be two males present with a female and eggs are  fertilised on regular basis by a male, even up to several days before hatching.  Young appear to reach larval stage fairly quickly and swimming larvae are ejected to go their own way in the plankton.  They have a long planktonic larval stage and most species are widespread across a wide expanse of oceans.
 There are some thoughts that males may be able to alter their sex to turn into females should the right circumstances occur.  However, this requires verification in the field as observations were made in aquaria.

These super interesting little fish are searched out by every underwater photographer because of their fascinating behaviour and mimicry. Although hundreds of thousands of divers have seen them, we still have a long way to go before we discover all their secrets.

Images like those displayed here by Jorina van der Westhuizen give us some indication of the reproductive techniques, but they also pose a number of interesting questions and we will be searching them out in the future.

A fantastic colour and perfect match for its blue- green algae host/model, this male rough - snouted ghost pipefish Solenostomus paegnius was only half the size of its mate and was also different in colour. ( 15m Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea)           ( photo: Neville Coleman)

All marked Copyright Neville Coleman
 

Images 9,10,11,12 Copyright  Jorina van der Westhuizen