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Lord Howe Pipefish Cosmocampus howensis Whitley 1948
[CAAB 37 282055]

Distribution Map see an interactive map here (new window)

The Lord Howe Pipefish inhabits subtropical to temperate reefs in the south Pacific.

Distribution, ecology and habitat:

Subtropical, temperate, South Pacific (to Easter Island); Lord Howe Island, southern Queensland to Jervis Bay, NSW; subtropical to temperate; inhabits inshore reefs.

Size:

Reaches about 120 mm TL.

Food and feeding:

Unknown, but likely to feed on copepods, small isopods and ostracods.

Reproduction and early life history:

Reproduction: Ovoviviparous (gives birth to live young). The eggs are brooded by the males in a pouch on the underside of the body. The pouch protects the dorsal surface and side of the egg mass, leaving the ventral surface exposed. Males may begin brooding at 72 mm TL.

Eggs: Undescribed, but deposited in 2-17 transverse rows within a gelatinous matrix.

Larvae: Undescribed.

Characteristics:

Meristics: D 27-30; P 13-16;Trunk rings 15-17; Tail rings 33-36.

Head and body: Head length 8.1-9.6 in SL, snout depth 2.3-3.5 in snout length. Superior trunk and tail ridges discontinuous; lateral trunk ridge straight, ends near anal ring; median dorsal snout ridge entire to partly emarginate; lateral snout ridge usually present; short snout, snout length 2.1-2.6 in HL; dermal flaps usually present on eye and elsewhere on head; opercular keel reduced to anterior half of operculum.

Colour:

  Pale coloured; head plain or heavily blotched with dark brown; dorsum of body sometimes with indications of 10-11 diffuse pale bars; body otherwise with numerous dark streaks and spots; dorsal and pectoral fins sometimes shaded with brown.

Fisheries:

None.

Conservation Status:

Australian Government Legislation: Marine listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

State Government Legislation: Protected under the New South Wales Fisheries Management Act.

Remarks:

Specimens from Easter Island tend to have higher numbers of total rings than those from other locations (50-52 versus 49-51).

Other common names:

Lord Howe's Pipefish.

Original citation:

Parasyngnathus howensis Whitley 1948, Rec. Aust. Mus. 22(1): 77, Lord Howe Island.

Etymology:

Cosmocampus is from the Greek, kosmos meaning order or organization, and the Greek, kampe for bent, curvature. The specific name howensis is in reference to the type-locality, Lord Howe Island.

References:

Allen, G.R., D.F. Hoese, J.R. Paxton, J.R. Randall, B.C. Russell, W.A. Starck II, F.H. Talbot & G.P. Whitley. 1976. Annotated checklist of the fishes of Lord Howe Island. Rec. Austr. Mus. 30(15): 366 454.

Dawson, C.E. 1985. Indo-Pacific Pipefishes (Red Sea to the Americas). Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi. 230 pp.

Francis, M.P. 1993. Checklist of the coastal fishes of Lord Howe, Norfolk, and Kermadec Island, southwest Pacific Ocean. Pacific Science 47(2): 136-170.

Herald, E.S. & J.E. Randall. 1972. Five new Indo-Pacific pipefishes. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 39(11): 121-140

Hoese, D.F., D.J. Bray, J.R. Paxton & G.R. Allen. 2006. Fishes. In Beesley PL & Wells A (eds) Zoological catalogue of Australia. Volume 35 ABRS & CSIRO Publishing: Australia. 2178 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Seahorses, Pipefishes and their Relatives. Chorleywood, UK: TMC Publishing. 240 pp.

Pogonoski, J.J., D.A. Pollard & J.R. Paxton. 2002. Conservation Overview and Action Plan for Australian Threatened and Potentially Threatened Marine and Estuarine Fishes, Environment Australia, Canberra. 375 pp.

Randall, J.E. 1999. Report on fish collections from the Pitcairn Islands. Atoll Reseach Bulletin 461: 1-36, figs.

Whitley, G.P. 1948. Studies in Ichthyology No. 13. Rec. Aust. Mus. 22(1): 70-94.