Marine Life - Ornate Ghost Pipefish

Many of you know that here at Wicked Diving we are passionate about all the creatures we encounter in the seas...but a few of us geek out on the species we find in the macro rather than the larger species. Ornate Ghost Pipefish are masters of disguise and really take some searching to find. But once you do...they are amazing!


The ornate ghost pipefish (Solenostomus paradoxus) occasionally known as the harlequin ghost pipefish, is a pipefish of the family Solenostomidae frequently found along reef edges prone to strong currents.
The ornate ghost pipefish is one of the hardest fish to spot in the ocean.  First of all they are relatively small, only growing to about 12 centimetres in maximum length. This combined with the fact that their bodies look more like coral or seaweed than an actual saltwater fish, makes them a master of camouflage!

General Description
The ornate ghost pipefish can be recognised by its distinctive body form with slender appendages on the body and fins. It has deeply incised membranes in the dorsal, caudal and ventral fins.
Its colour varies from almost totally black to semi-transparent with red, yellow, and white scribbling, spots and blotches and they can reach a maximum length of 12 centimetres.
These pipefish are different to seahorses in several ways. The head is held at an angle to the body, but not at such a large angle as that of the seahorse. One also finds that they have two dorsal fins whereas a seahorse only has one. In addition, the ghost pipefishes do not have a pouch in which the young are reared, instead the female looks after the eggs in a pouch formed by her modified ventral fins. These fins are greatly expanded and united with the abdomen along the upper margin and together below for a brood pouch.
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