celacanthr
Active Member
Syngnathids!
Well, I thought I would write about the September FOTM. I hope no one minds!
Syngnathid is the family that includes seahorses, pipefish, ghost pipefish, and the sea dragons. They are very specialized in almost every aspect of their life, therefore it is OUR job to cater to their needs, not force them to bend to what is easiest for us. If you look at pictures of seahorses, pipefish, and sea dragons you will notice that they have very undersized fins, which means that they are not very good swimmers. One of the biggest developments in the syngnathids is reproduction, the most advanced being of hippocampus. Hippocampus males have pouches in which the female releases the eggs, and where the male fertilizes them, and then once the gestation period has elapsed the male will go through muscle spasms causing the pouch to expel miniatures of the adults. Pipefish males have 2 folds of skin, where they will clutch the eggs between. Sea dragon males merely have a patch on their tail, where the eggs are “glued”. Also all syngnathids have advanced camouflage skills, the most advanced being that of the dragons and pipes. Sea dragons actually have leafy outshoots that mimic the surrounding kelp beds magnificently. Ghost pipefish, a type of pipefish, have completely changed their body structure, including the shape translucency, and color, remarkably. Probably their biggest downfall for the hobbyist is their feeding. They have developed so specifically for copepods, amphipods, and other free-floating organisms, that they can’t take “normal” fish food. Now when I say “developed so specifically for…” I mean that their mouth shape has completely transformed into basically a tube. Below is the scientific classification.
Kingdom: Animalia-Animals
- Phylum: Chordata- they have a backbone, but it also includes tunicates
-- Class: Actinopterygii-Ray finned fish
--- Order: Gasterosteiformes- means stomach bone
---- Family: Syngnathidae
[hr]
Syngnalhina-Pipefish
[hr]
Hippocampus- Seahorses
[hr]
( I am having trouble locating the genus of the sea dragons at the moment)
Well, I thought I would write about the September FOTM. I hope no one minds!
Syngnathid is the family that includes seahorses, pipefish, ghost pipefish, and the sea dragons. They are very specialized in almost every aspect of their life, therefore it is OUR job to cater to their needs, not force them to bend to what is easiest for us. If you look at pictures of seahorses, pipefish, and sea dragons you will notice that they have very undersized fins, which means that they are not very good swimmers. One of the biggest developments in the syngnathids is reproduction, the most advanced being of hippocampus. Hippocampus males have pouches in which the female releases the eggs, and where the male fertilizes them, and then once the gestation period has elapsed the male will go through muscle spasms causing the pouch to expel miniatures of the adults. Pipefish males have 2 folds of skin, where they will clutch the eggs between. Sea dragon males merely have a patch on their tail, where the eggs are “glued”. Also all syngnathids have advanced camouflage skills, the most advanced being that of the dragons and pipes. Sea dragons actually have leafy outshoots that mimic the surrounding kelp beds magnificently. Ghost pipefish, a type of pipefish, have completely changed their body structure, including the shape translucency, and color, remarkably. Probably their biggest downfall for the hobbyist is their feeding. They have developed so specifically for copepods, amphipods, and other free-floating organisms, that they can’t take “normal” fish food. Now when I say “developed so specifically for…” I mean that their mouth shape has completely transformed into basically a tube. Below is the scientific classification.
Kingdom: Animalia-Animals
- Phylum: Chordata- they have a backbone, but it also includes tunicates
-- Class: Actinopterygii-Ray finned fish
--- Order: Gasterosteiformes- means stomach bone
---- Family: Syngnathidae
[hr]
Syngnalhina-Pipefish
[hr]
Hippocampus- Seahorses
[hr]
( I am having trouble locating the genus of the sea dragons at the moment)