Southern Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis australe (Waite & Hale 1921)

Other Names: Little Pipehorse, Southern Little Pipehorse

A Southern Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis australe, at Edithburg Jetty, South Australia. Source: Simon Cribbes / Atlas of Living Australia. License: CC By Attribution

Summary:

A small rare well camouflaged amongst red algae.

Cite this page as:

Dianne J. Bray & Vanessa J. Thompson, Idiotropiscis australe in Fishes of Australia, accessed 16 Oct 2018, http://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/4424

Southern Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis australe (Waite & Hale 1921)

More Info

Distribution	Endemic to temperate waters of southern and southwestern Australia, from Cape Jarvis and the Gulf St Vincent, South Australia, and Carnac Island, Western Australia Inhabits shallow algal-covered substrates where it is thought to camouflage itself amongst algae and seagrasses. Individuals appear to be site attached, remaining in the same area for several years.
Features	Meristic features: Dorsal fin 15–16; Anal fin 3–4; Pectoral fin 14–15; Trunk rings 12; Tail rings 37-39. Body moderately elongate, head directed at slight angle to line of body; head and body sometimes head with fleshy flaps and filaments; superior trunk and tail ridges discontinuous; lateral trunk ridge not confluent with lateral tail ridge; tail prehensile. Dorsal fin short-based, on middle of back; anal fin tiny, below rear end of dorsal fin; caudal fin absent; pectoral fin very small.
Size	This very small species only reaches a length of 55 mm.
Colour	Colour variable, usually plain, sometimes with dark bars on body sides; dorsal fin often with a brown anterior blotch. Females dark tan, green or yellow to whitish. Males are usually whitish to bright blue with dark bars on side and a bright scarlet red opercle.
Feeding	Unknown, but likely to feed on small crustaceans.
Biology	Males brood the developing eggs in a sac-like brood pouch under the tail. The brood pouch does not have separate bilateral membranous folds.. Two males collected near Carnac Island, Western Australia were brooding 10 and 80 eggs.
Fisheries	Although this rare pipehorse has been taken in dredges, it is of no interest to fisheries or aquaculture.
Conservation	IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Data Deficient Australian Commonwealth legislation: Marine listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). State Legislation: Listed as protected under the South Australian Fisheries Management Acts. CITES: Not listed.
Remarks
Similar Species	Differs from I. lumnitzeri in having 12, versus 11 trunk rings, and in having a much longer trunk than is almost twice the head length. I. australe differs from I. larsonae in having a less elevated and anteriorly protruding frontal ridge, more trunk rings (12 versus 11), more pectoral fin rays (14–15 versus 12–13), and a longer snout.
Etymology	Idiotropiscis is from the Greek idio- (individual, personal) and tropikos (of turning, figurative). The specific name australe is from the Latin australis (southern) in reference to the type locality in southern Australia.
Species Citation	Acentronura australe Waite & Hale 1921, Rec. S. Aust. Mus. 1(4): 317, fig. 53, St Vincent Gulf, South Australia.
Author	Dianne J. Bray & Vanessa J. Thompson

Southern Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis australe (Waite & Hale 1921)

References

Dawson, C.E. 1984. A new pipehorse (Syngnathidae) from Western Australia, with remarks on the subgenera of Acentronura. Japan. J. Ichthyol. 31(2): 156–160.

Dawson, C.E. 1985. Indo-Pacific Pipefishes (Red Sea to the Americas). Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi. 230 pp. [as Acentronura (Idiotropiscis) australe]

Foster, S.J. & A.C.J. Vincent. 2004. Life history and ecology of seahorses: implications for conservation and management. J. Fish Biol. 65: 1–61.

Hutchins, J.B. 2001. Checklist of the fishes of Western Australia. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. Suppl. 63: 9–50.

Kendrick, A.J. & Morgan, S. 2006. Idiotropiscis australe. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.1. <www.iucnredlist>. Downloaded on 08 April 2010.

Kuiter, R.H. 2004. A new pygmy pipehorse (Pisces: Syngnathidae: Idiotropiscis) from eastern Australia. Rec. Aust. Mus. 56(2): 163–165.

Kuiter, R.H. 2008. Family Syngnathidae (pp. 448–479). In Gomon, M.F., D.J. Bray & R.H. Kuiter (eds) Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast. New Holland Press & Museum Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, 928 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. 2009. Seahorses and their relatives. Aquatic Photographics, Seaford, Australia. Pp. 1–333.

Kendrick, A.J. & G.A. Hyndes. 2003. Patterns in the abundance and size distribution of syngnathid fishes among habitats in a seagrass-dominated marine environment. Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci. 57: 631–640.

Paxton, J.R., J.E. Gates, D.F. Hoese & D.J. Bray. 2006. Syngnathidae (Pp. 810–846). In Beesley, P.L. & Wells, A. (Eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 35. Fishes. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing, Australia., 3 vols.

Pogonoski, J.J., D.A. Pollard & J.R. Paxton. 2002. Conservation Overview and Action Plan for Australian Threatened and Potentially Threatened Marine and Estuarine Fishes, Environment Australia, Canberra. 375 pp.

Waite, E.R. & H.M. Hale. 1921. Review of the lophobranchiate fishes (pipe-fishes and seahorses) of South Australia. Rec. S. Aust. Mus. 1(4): 293–324.