Estuarine pipefish
{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Estuarine pipefish
| status = CR
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| taxon = Syngnathus watermeyeri
| image = Syngnathus watermeyeri.png
| authority = J. L. B. Smith, 1963
}}
The estuarine pipefish or river pipefish (Syngnathus watermeyeri) is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae. It is endemic to South Africa and has been sporadically recorded in the estuarine portions of the Kariega, Kasouga, Bushmans, East Kleinemonde and West Kleinemonde rivers. It can be readily distinguished from another southern African pipefish with which it shares its habitat, S. temminckii, by its much shorter snout. The estuarine pipefish is most commonly found in beds of the eelgrass Zostera capensis.{{FishBase|Syngnathus|watermeyeri|month=February|year=2018}}
Conservation status
The estuarine pipefish was declared extinct in 1994, but was rediscovered in 2006{{cite journal |author1= P.D. Vorwerk |author2= P.W. Froneman |author3= A.W. Paterson | year = 2007 | title = Recovery of the critically endangered river pipefish, Syngnathus watermeyeri, in the Kariega Estuary, Eastern Cape province | journal = South African Journal of Science | volume = 103 | pages = 199–291 | url = http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0038-23532007000300010}} in areas where it had not been reported in over four decades. This pipefish is Critically Endangered due to both natural and human threats to the brackish estuaries and local eelgrass beds in which it lives.
Captive breeding
A captive population of Syngnathus watermeyeri is held at uShaka Marine World in Durban.
Etymology
The type was a female of {{convert|110|mm|in}} collected in the Bushmans River and sent to J.L.B. Smith by F.L.E. Watermeyer, whom Smith honoured in the newly described species' specific name.{{cite journal | author = J.L.B. Smith | year = 1963 | title = Fishes of the family Syngnathidae from the Red Sea and the western Indian Ocean | journal = Ichthyological Bulletin, Department of Ichthyology, Rhodes University | volume = 27 | pages = 515–543 | url = http://vital.seals.ac.za:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:15002;jsessionid=D59E6608F4F5F3370ACC4EBD5B5394CE?exact=sm_title%3A%22Fishes+of+the+family+Syngnathidae+from+the+Red+Sea+and+the+Western+Indian+Ocean%22&collection=vital%3A91}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2685588}}
Category:Fauna of South Africa
Category:Endemic fish of South Africa
Category:Freshwater fish of South Africa
Category:Taxa named by J. L. B. Smith
Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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