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Robust Ghostpipefish
Solenostomus cyanopterus Bleeker,1855

A Robust Ghostpipefish at Kurnell, New South Wales. View larger image.

A Robust Ghostpipefish at Camp Cove, New South Wales. View larger image.

Head of a Robust Ghostpipefish at Camp Cove, New South Wales.
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A 90mm long Robust Ghostpipefish collected during Australian Museum fieldwork at a depth of 6m between South Head and Lady Jane Beach, Sydney Harbour, March 1998 (AMS I.38734-001). View larger image.

The Robust Ghostpipefish lives in marine waters of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. In Australia it is found in coastal bays and estuaries from Shark Bay, Western Australia, around the tropical north and south to Sydney Harbour, New South Wales.

It is usually seen in pairs near algae or seagrass beds. When disturbed it will move into the vegetation. Although there is considerable variation, many Robust Ghostpipefish look remarkably similar to a piece of seagrass.

Its colouration is highly variable from grey, brown to bright green. It has a very short to absent caudal peduncle.

This species feeds on small crustaceans. It is the largest of the ghostpipefishes, growing to a maximum length of 15cm.

Ghostpipefishes (Family Solenostomidae) are different from seahorses in several ways. A ghostpipefish's head is held at an angle to the body, but the angle is less than that in seahorses. Ghostpipefishes have two dorsal fins whereas a seahorse only has one. Female ghostpipefishes (rather than the male seahorse) look after the eggs in a pouch formed by her enlarged pelvic fins.

View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

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Robust Ghostpipefish Solenostomus cyanopterus Bleeker,1855

Further reading

Robust Ghostpipefish
Solenostomus cyanopterus Bleeker,1855