Southern Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis australis (Waite & Hale 1921)
A Southern Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis australis, at Edithburg Jetty, Wool Bay, Gulf St Vincent, South Australia. Source: Simon Cribbes / Atlas of Living Australia. License: CC By Attribution
Southern Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis australis (Waite & Hale 1921)
More Info
Distribution |
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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 |
A small pipehorse, reaching a length of 55 mm. |
Colour |
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Feeding |
Unknown, but likely to feed on small crustaceans. |
Biology |
Males brood the developing embryos in a sac-like brood pouch beneath their tail before the larvae are born alive. 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. |
Remarks |
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Similar Species |
Differs from Sydney’s Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis 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 Helen's Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis 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 |
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Species Citation |
Acentronura australe Waite & Hale 1921, Rec. S. Aust. Mus. 1(4): 317, fig. 53. Type locality: St Vincent Gulf, South Australia. |
Author |
Bray, D.J. & Thompson, V.J. 2020 |
Resources |
Southern Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis australis (Waite & Hale 1921)
References
Dawson, C.E. 1984. A new pipehorse (Syngnathidae) from Western Australia, with remarks on the subgenera of Acentronura. Japanese Journal of Ichthyology 31(2): 156-160 figs 1-3 (as Acentronura australe)
Dawson, C.E. 1985. Indo-Pacific Pipefishes (Red Sea to the Americas). Ocean Springs (Mississippi) : Gulf Coast Research Laboratory 230 pp. 293 figs pl. 1. [as Acentronura (Idiotropiscis) australe]
Dawson, C.E. 1994. Family Syngnathidae. pp. 440-475 figs 391-426 in Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds). The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. Adelaide : State Printer 992 pp. 810 figs. (as Acentronura australe)
Foster, S.J. & Vincent, A.J.C. 2004. Life history and ecology of seahorses: implications for conservation and management. Journal of Fish Biology 65: 1–61. (as Acentronura australe)
Hamilton, H., Saarman, N., Short, G., Sellas, A.B., Moore, B., Hoang, T., Grace, C.L., Gomon, M., Crow, K. & Simison, W.B. 2016. Molecular phylogeny and patterns of diversification in syngnathid fishes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 107: 388-403 + supplement 1-4 + 5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2016.10.003
Kendrick, A.J. & Hyndes, G.A. 2003. Patterns in the abundance and size distribution of syngnathid fishes among habitats in a seagrass-dominated marine environment. Estuarine and Coastal Shelf Science 57: 631–640. (as Acentronura australe)
Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Seahorses, Pipefishes and Their Relatives. Chorleywood, UK : TMC Publishing 240 pp.
Kuiter, R.H. 2004. A New Pygmy Pipehorse (Pisces: Syngnathidae: Idiotropiscis) from Eastern Australia. Records of the Australian Museum 56: 163-165
Kuiter, R.H. 2008. Syngnathidae. pp. 448-479 in Gomon, M.F., Bray, D.J. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds). Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast. Sydney : Reed New Holland 928 pp.
Kuiter, R.H. 2009. Seahorses and their relatives. Seaford, Australia : Aquatic Photographics pp. 331.
Kuiter, R. & Kuiter, S. 2018. Coastal sea-fishes of south-eastern Australia. Seaford, Victoria : Aquatic Photographics, 371 pp.
Pollom, R. 2016. Acentronura australe (errata version published in 2017). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T61314A115204241. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T61314A67618649.en. Downloaded on 23 September 2020.
Waite, E.R. & Hale, H.M. 1921. Review of the lophobranchiate fishes (pipe-fishes and sea-horses) of South Australia. Records of the South Australian Museum (Adelaide) 1(4): 293-324 figs 39-56
Whitley, G.P. 1947. New sharks and fishes from Western Australia. Part 3. The Australian Zoologist 11(2): 129-150 figs 1-3 pl. 11 (as Idiotropiscis australe)