Banded pipefish (Micrognathus crinitus)

Scientific name: Micrognathus crinitus Jenyns, 1842

Banded pipefish (Micrognathus crinitus)

The Banded pipefish (Micrognathus crinitus) is a marine fish of the family Syngnathidae.

Biology

Dorsal soft rays (total): 19-21; Anal soft rays: 1 - 3. Possess nine (9) different color phases. Similar to Halicampus zavorensis, it has a short snout (2.7-3.7 in HL) with a continuous and essentially linear median dorsal ridges. Different with H. zavorensis in having 17-18 trunk ridges (vs. 14); 32 - 35 tail rings (vs. 36 - 37); and having 18 - 22 dorsal-fin rays (vs. 22 - 23).

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Micrognathus crinitus
Family
Syngnathidae (Pipefishes and seahorses)
Order
Syngnathiformes (Pipefishes and Seahorses)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
15.0
Depth range
1–21 m (3–69 ft)
Environment
Marine; reef-associated; depth range 1 - 21 m
Climate
Subtropical
Distribution
Western Atlantic: Bermuda and the Bahamas to Santa Catarina, Brazil; including lower east Florida coast but absent from the Gulf of Mexico except for a single record from Cayo Arcas, Mexico. Dawson (1982) noted that there are two distinct color patterns of this species with no definite intergrades. Some authors are of the opinion that these color extremes represent two different species and should this be true, Dawson stated that Kaup's vittatus has priority over ensenadae with AMNH 7792 documenting the Bermuda occurrence of Micrognathus vittatus.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Resilience
High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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