Ringback Pipefish, Stipecampus cristatus (McCulloch & Waite 1918)
A Ringback Pipefish, Stipecampus cristatus, at St Leonards, Port Phillip, Victoria. Source: Julian K. Finn / Museums Victoria. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial
An mottled brownish pipefish with 9–11 irregular narrow pale bars or blotches along the back, pale irregular blotches along the sides of the tail, and a dark blotch on the dorsal fin. The Ringback Pipefish also has an elevated snout ridge - hence the species name cristatus.
Ringback Pipefish, Stipecampus cristatus (McCulloch & Waite 1918)
More Info
|
Distribution |
Endemic to temperate waters of southern Australia, from Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia; known from Wilsons Promontory, Victoria, northern Tasmania, Bass Strait Islands, and across South Australia to just north of Perth, Western Australia. Prefers sheltered reef and rubble areas, living in sparse algal and and seagrass habitats (Amphibolis and Posidonia), often near channels in large estuaries and bays in 3-12 m. |
|
Features |
Dorsal fin 26–29; Anal fin 3–4; Caudal fin 8; Pectoral fin 12–13; Trunk rings 19–20; Tail rings: 39–42; Subdorsal rings 1.25–1.50 + 4.00–5.25 = 5.00–6.25; Total rings: 58-62. Superior and inferior trunk ridges continuous with corresponding ridges of tail; lateral trunk terminates between last trunk ring and 3rd tail ring, not confluent with inferior tail ridge; dorsal fin base not elevated. Snout length 27–33% HL, depth 62–77% snout length; median dorsal snout ridge a large, continuous, plate-like elevation, often elevated above dorsal rim of orbit, continuous posteriorly with orbital ridges. Opercular ridge complete or indistinct, crossed elsewhere by about 40 minutely granular striae. Dorsal-fin origin on trunk. |
|
Size |
|
|
Colour |
Mostly shades of brown and pale with variable markings; usually narrow dark stripes behind eye; often 9–11 narrow, irregular, pale bars dorsally, extending slightly ventrally, sometimes with pale blotches irregularly just above inferior ridge; dark blotch usually anteriorly on dorsal fin. |
|
Feeding |
Feeds on small crustaceans. |
|
Biology |
Males brood eggs in a pouch under the anterior 13-16 rings of the tail. The pouch plates are well-developed and angled laterally. During courtship, the male circles the female with his pouch flaps held wide open. Males and females then rise together to exchange eggs about a metre or two off the bottom. Within the pouch, the eggs are in 1-2 transverse rows; eggs are separate, not in a gelatinous matrix; incubation of 50-100 embryos takes about 4 weeks. Larvae hatch at about 20mm in length. |
|
Fisheries |
Occasionally taken as bycatch in trawls and dredges. |
|
Conservation |
Australian Commonwealth legislation: Marine listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). State Legislation: Listed as protected under the New South Wales, Victorian, Tasmanian and South Australian Fisheries Management Acts. |
|
Remarks |
Ringback Pipefish seasonally migrate into Port Phillip Bay (Victoria), often in large numbers, presumably to breed. |
|
Similar Species |
Stipecampus cristatus differs from other southern Australian pipefishes in having the following combination of characters: a continuous, strongly developed and elevated, snout ridge continuous with the orbital ridges; the flat interorbital; absence of ridges on pectoral-fin base; presence of pouch plates. Although the snout ridge configuration is somewhat similar to that of male Campichthys tryoni, the ridge is continuous with the orbital ridges (not so in C. tryoni) and most merisitc counts differ completely. |
|
Etymology |
The specific name cristatus refers to the crest on the snout. |
|
Species Citation |
Ichthyocampus cristatus McCulloch & Waite 1918, Rec. S. Aust. Mus. 1(1): 40, fig. 26, Spencer Gulf (SA). |
|
Author |
Dianne J. Bray |
Ringback Pipefish, Stipecampus cristatus (McCulloch & Waite 1918)
References
Dawson, C.E. 1977. Synopsis of Syngnathine pipefishes usually referred to the genus Ichthyocampus Kaup, with description of new genera and species. Bulletin of Marine Science 27(4): 595–650.
Dawson, C.E. 1985. Indo-Pacific Pipefishes (Red Sea to the Americas). Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi, USA, 230pp.
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.
Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-Eastern Australia. Crawford House, Bathurst, NSW, Australia, 437pp.
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.
Last, P.R., Scott, E.O.G. & Talbot, F.H. 1983. Fishes Of Tasmania. Tasmanian Fisheries Development Authority, Hobart. 563pp.
McCulloch, A.R. & E. R. Waite. 1918. Some new and little-known fishes from South Australia. Rec. S. Austr. Mus. I: 39-78.
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.
Scott, E.O.G. 1970. Observations on some Tasmanian fishes: Part XVII. Pap. Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasmania 104: 33-50.
Dawson, C.E. 1977. Synopsis of Syngnathine pipefishes usually referred to the genus Ichthyocampus Kaup, with description of new genera and species. Bulletin of Marine Science 27(4): 595–650.
Dawson, C.E. 1985. Indo-Pacific Pipefishes (Red Sea to the Americas). Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi, USA, 230pp.
Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-Eastern Australia. Crawford House, Bathurst, NSW, Australia, 437pp.
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.
Last, P.R., Scott, E.O.G. & Talbot, F.H. 1983. Fishes Of Tasmania. Tasmanian Fisheries Development Authority, Hobart. 563pp.
McCulloch, A.R. & E. R. Waite. 1918. Some new and little-known fishes from South Australia. Rec. S. Austr. Mus. I: 39-78.
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.
Scott, E.O.G. 1970. Observations on some Tasmanian fishes: Part XVII. Pap. Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasmania 104: 33-50.
