Western Crested Pipefish, Mitotichthys meraculus (Whitley 1948)
A Western Crested Pipefish, Mitotichthys meraculus, in the Perth area, Western Australia, April 2018. Source: Glen Whisson / iNaturalist.org. License: CC By Attribution-NonCommercial
This endemic pipefish is only known from a few specimens collected in shallow waters of south Western Australia.
Western Crested Pipefish, Mitotichthys meraculus (Whitley 1948)
More Info
|
Distribution |
Endemic to temperate waters of southwestern Australia; only known from two specimens collected at Flinders Bay, Augusta and Perth, Western Australia; reportedly inhabits sheltered seagrass beds (Posidonia coriaceaI) in 2m. |
|
Features |
Dorsal fin 25; Anal fin 3; Pectoral fin 13; trunk rings 20; tail rings 34-35; subdorsal rings 4.0-3.75 + 3.25-3.5 = 7.0-7.5. Body elongated, trunk moderately shallow, somewhat deeper in adult females than adult males, upper profile slightly convex near dorsal-fin base; head aligned with body; head length 7.9 in SL; snout long, 1.9 in HL; snout depth 4.8 in snout length; median dorsal snout ridge low, entire; opercle without distinct longitudinal ridge in subadults and adults; superior trunk and tail ridges discontinuous; lateral trunk ridge straight, ends near anal ring; inferior trunk and tail ridges continuous; principle body ridges entire, low on trunk, a little elevated on distal half or more of tail; scutella not keeled; without dermal flaps; tail not prehensile. Dorsal fin origin on trunk, closer to tip of snout than to tip of tail, base of moderate length; pectoral fin base without distinct ridges; anal fin tiny, below front half of dorsal fin; caudal fin very small. |
|
Size |
Grows to a maximum length of more than 222 mm SL. |
|
Colour |
Brownish with small, dark margined pale spots on scutella of each trunk ring and each ring has a median vertical series of two additional ocelli above the lateral ridge and one below. |
|
Feeding |
Unknown – likely to feed on small crustaceans. |
|
Biology |
Nothing is known about the biology of this species. |
|
Fisheries |
Of no interest to fisheries or aquaculture. |
|
Conservation |
Marine listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). |
|
Remarks |
This species is only known from two females caught in south Western Australia, and Rudie Kuiter has suggested that these records may represent range extensions of Histiogamphelus briggsii. |
|
Similar Species |
|
|
Etymology |
|
|
Species Citation |
Histiogamphelus meraculus Whitley 1948, Aust. Zool. 11(3): 271, City Beach, Perth, Western Australia. |
|
Author |
Bray, D.J. & Thompson, V.J. 2018 |
|
Resources |
Western Crested Pipefish, Mitotichthys meraculus (Whitley 1948)
References
Dawson, C.E. 1984. Synopsis of Australian pipefishes usually referred to the syngnathine (tail-pouch) genera Syngnathus, Leptonotus and Histiogamphelus. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 45: 71-123
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.
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. Estuarine and Coastal Shelf Science 57: 631-640.
Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Seahorses, Pipefishes and Their Relatives. Chorleywood, UK : TMC Publishing 240 pp.
Kuiter, R.H. 2009. Seahorses and their relatives. Seaford, Australia : Aquatic Photographics, 331 pp
Whitley, G.P. 1948. New sharks and fishes from Western Australia. Part 4. Aust. Zool. 11(3): 259-276. See ref at BHLWhitley, G.P. 1955. Opus CCC. The Australian Zoologist 12(2): 154-159 figs 1-7 See ref at BHLZhang, X. & Pollom, R. 2016. Mitotichthys meraculus (errata version published in 2017). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T65371373A115429077. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T65371373A67624753.en. Downloaded on 25 September 2018.
