greater pipefish

The genus name Syngnathus derives from the Greek, syn, symphysis meaning grown together and gnathos meaning jaw. The Latin species' name acus means needle.

File:Océanopolis - les aquariums 003.JPG vegetation]]

The greater pipefish has a long segmented armoured body, angular in cross section and stretching up 45 cm long with its stiff appearance. It ranges a color brown to green in with broad alternating light and dark hue along it. Its customized by a long snout with mouth on end and a slight hump on the top of the body just behind the eyes.

The fish is generally 33 cm to 35 cm in length with a reported maximum length of 47 cm. They are almost square in each segment of the body, and known to feel rigid when handled. The greater pipefish has distinctive body rings which are a sandy brown with darker bars covering its body in between.{{Cite web |url=http://www.jjphoto.dk/fish_archive/saltwater/syngnathus_acus.htm |title=Synghatus acus on jjphoto.dk |access-date=2007-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926225739/http://www.jjphoto.dk/fish_archive/saltwater/syngnathus_acus.htm |archive-date=2007-09-26 |url-status=dead }}[http://www.fishbase.org/summary/1770 Fishbase]

File: Syngnathidae - Syngnathus acus.JPG of Italy]]

The anatomy of fish vary through the sex. The top third of the females belly is deep (when egg bound), twice the breadth of the lower two thirds below the vent. The male is the "tailing" with the twin folds below the vent. The folds of the skin make the middle third and during the "brooding" of the young they swell in size until the young are released from the pouch (at a size of 22 mm to 35 mm).

These fishes feed on live mysids and small prawns. They are ovoviviparous and reproduce usually three times each year. A few females deposit partial clutches under the tail into the male's brood pouch, that may contain up to 400 eggs.

The greater pipefish is found all around the British Isles and is regularly found in the Mediterranean Sea.

These fishes are common on southerly and westerly coasts in a variety of habitats, often amongst seaweeds and seagrass.

The southern African species Syngnathus temminckii (Kaup, 1856) was until recently synonymised with S. acus. However, morphological data clearly show that it is distinct, and genetic data indicate that it is not even the sister taxon of S. acus, but of another southern African species, the river pipefish S. watermeyeri.Mwale, M., Kaiser, H., Barker, N.P., Wilson, A.B. & Teske, P.R. (2013) Identification of a uniquely southern African clade of coastal pipefishes Syngnathus spp. Journal of Fish Biology 82: 2045–2062

Syngnathus acus spain.jpg|Social behavior of two juvenile specimens of Syngnathus acus.

Aguja de mar (Syngnathus acus), Parque natural de la Arrábida, Portugal, 2020-07-21, DD 88.jpg|On the sand.

Syngnathus acus Rab 01.JPG|Detail of the head.

Syngnathus acus Rab.JPG|Detail of the body rings.

Syngnathus acus Rab 1.JPG|Among seagrass.

• Bent J. Muus, Jørgen G. Nielsen: Die Meeresfische Europas. In Nordsee, Ostsee und Atlantik. Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, {{ISBN|3-440-07804-3}}
• Dawson, C.E., 1986. Syngnathidae. p. 628–639. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Volume 2. Unesco, Paris.
• Rudie H. Kuiter: Seepferdchen: Seenadeln, Fetzenfische und ihre Verwandten. Ulmer (Eugen), 2001, {{ISBN|3-80013-244-3}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{FishBase|id=1770|genus=Syngnathus|species=acus|year=2015|month=October}}
• [http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Pipefish.htm Greater Pipefish Syngnathus acus - Jim Hall]

{{Commons category|Syngnathus acus}}

{{Wikispecies|Syngnathus acus}}

• [http://www.habitas.org.uk/marinelife/species.asp?item=ZG3760 Syngnathus acus on Marine Life Encyclopedia]
• [http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=4412 Greater pipefish] on Marine Life Information Network
• [http://www.glaucus.org.uk/GreaterP.htm The greater pipefish in Aquaria]
• 25px [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926225739/http://www.jjphoto.dk/fish_archive/saltwater/syngnathus_acus.htm Photo from Denmark Aquarium]
• {{sealifephotos|127387}}

{{diversity of fish}}

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greater pipefish

Category:Fish of the East Atlantic

Category:Fish of the Adriatic Sea

Category:Fish of the North Sea

Category:Fish of the Black Sea

Category:Fish of the Mediterranean Sea

Category:Marine fish of Europe

Category:Marine fauna of Africa

greater pipefish

greater pipefish