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Barbed Pipefish Bhanotia fasciolata Duméril 1870
[CAAB 37 282104]

Distribution Map see an interactive map here (new window)

This small pipefish prefers silty and muddy habitats in tide-pools and on shallow reefs.

Distribution, ecology and habitat:

Known in the tropical East Indo-west Pacific, from the Andaman Sea to Vanuatu, including Northwestern Australia; inhabits inshore coral reefs, tide-pools and mudflats at 3-25m.

Size:

Reaches 90 mm SL

Food and feeding:

Preys on small invertebrates such as crustaceans.

Reproduction and early life history:

Reproduction: Ovoviviparous (gives birth to live young). Males brood the eggs in an inverted closed brood pouch on the underside; males brooding at 64 mm SL.

Eggs: Spherical, arranged in two uncrowded parallel rows in either one or two layers in the brood pouch.

Larvae: Pelagic and morphologically similar to the adults at birth.

Characteristics:

Meristics: D 29-35; P 13-16; C 10; Trunk rings 14-16; Tail rings 39-42.

Head and body: HL 9.1-11.0 in SL; snout length 2.6-2.9 in HL, snout depth 2.1-3.1 in snout length; snout with 8 spinelike projections on dorsal midline and an interrupted row of slightly larger spines on either side of median series; snout ridge diagonal anterodorsally; opercle with complete longitudinal ridge. Most head and body ridges finely denticulate; free bony plates in the opercular membrane of adults are readily seen under low magnification.

Fins: Dorsal fin origin on trunk, fin base not elevated; anal fin very short.

Colour:

Overall brownish with four indistinct brown bars across lower half of snout and suborbital, bars continuing across venter; broad diagonal pale bar from eye crosses anterior part of opercle, usually with a median lateral row of dark spots; opercle usually with two narrow pale bars; sometimes with ocellate spots on lower lateral scutella of trunk.

Similar species:

B. nuda has 14 trunk rings and 13 pectoral rays compared to 15 for both counts in B. fasciolata. B. nuda lacks spines on the diagonal anterodorsal snout ridges and bars on lower half of snout. Free bony plates are visible in the opercular membranes of B. fasciolata above 55 mm SL but are lacking in B. nuda.

Fisheries:

None

Conservation Status:

Australian Government Legislation: Bhanotia fasciolata is a listed Marine species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act 1999 Marine Species).

Remarks:

Planktonic specimens may retain post larval characters to lengths approaching 60 mm SL. They differ from demersal specimens in having lateral spines on the snout, a prominent median dorsal ridge, a longer more slender snout and lack bony plates in the gill membrane.

Other common names:

Corrugated Pipefish

Original citation:

Syngnathus fasciolatus Duméril 1870, Sber. K. Akad. Wiss. Wien 57: 112, fig. 38, Java, Indonesia.

References:

Allen, G.R. & M. Adrim. 2003. Coral reef fishes of Indonesia. Zool. Stud. 42(1): 1-72.

Allen, G.R. & R.H. Kuiter. 1995. Bhanotia pauciradiata, a new species of pipefish (Syngnathidae) from Flores, Indonesia. Rev. Fr. Aquariol. 21(3-4): 75-76.

Dawson, C. E. 1977. The pipefish name Syngnathus corrugatus Weber, a junior synonym of Bhanotia fasciolata (Duméril). Copeia 1977(4): 786-788.

Dawson, C.E. 1978. Review of the Indo-Pacific Pipefish genus Bhanotia, with description of B. nuda n. sp. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 91(2): 392-407.

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

Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (2008). Bhanotia fasciolata in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra. Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/sprat. Accessed 2008-04-15@09:38:36.

Duméril, A.H.A. 1870. Histoire naturelle des poissons, ou ichthyologie générale. Tome Second. Ganoïdes, Dipnés, Lophobranches. Hist. Nat. Poiss. Ichth. Gen. 2: 1-624, Atlas: pp. 9-12, Pls. 15-26.

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

IUCN. (2007). 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. http://www.iucnredlist.org

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

Kuiter, R.H. & T. Tonozuka. 2001. Pictorial guide to Indonesian reef fishes. Part 1. Eels- Snappers, Muraenidae - Lutjanidae. Zoonetics, Australia. 302 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.