Bay Pipefish

Syngnathus leptorhynchus

Bay Pipefish

Syngnathus leptorhynchus

Sandy Coast

At the Aquarium

Sandy Coast

Appearance

The bay pipefish is a long skinny fish that can grow to be between 12 and 15 inches. These fish can be a variety of different shades of greens. Its long body and green coloration helps it blend into eelgrass beds as a form of camouflage.

Habitat

Eelgrass beds in bays.

Diet

Microscopic crustaceans: amphipods, copepods, crab larvae.

Life History

Throughout the summer months bay pipefish get ready to lay eggs. Just like their cousins the sea horse, male pipefish carry the eggs in a belly pouch. Because of this, the female pipefish try to attract males, and the males tend to be pickier than the females about who to pair up with. Once the babies hatch they stay in the pouch until they are around 0.75 in. long.

IUCN Status

Least Concern

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

Bay pipefish are important for the transfer of nutrients from the bottom to the top of the food web. As the pipefish eats plankton and then gets eaten by larger predators, it allows all the nutrients from the plankton to be passed along to other animals.

Southern Baja California to southern Alaska.

The bay pipefish can be found in bays across Oregon. They can be hard to spot since they blend in with eelgrass beds.

Bay pipefish have a long straw-like mouth. This makes them an effective predator for their planktonic prey. Once the bay pipefish is facing its prey it can suck them into its mouth within 2-6 milliseconds.
Much like its cousin the sea horse, the bay pipefish has no scales. Instead of having scales it has bony plates around its body.

Citations & Other Resources

Hart. J. L., N. B. Andrews. 1988. Pacific Fishes of Canada. Bulletins of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada. Canadian Government Publishing Center Supplies and Services Canada. Ottawa, Canada.
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound. 2024. Syngnathus leptorhynchus. University of Washington. https://www.eopugetsound.org/species/syngnathus-leptorhynchus
Flammang, B.E., L. A. Ferry-Graham, C. Rinewalt, D. Ardizzone, C. Chante, T. Trejo, 2009. Prey capture kinematics and four-bar linkages in the bay pipefish, Syngnathus leptorhynchus. Zoology 112(2):86-96.
Boschung H. T., J. D. Williams, D. W. Gotshall, D. K. Caldwell, M. C. Cadwell, C. Nehring, J. Verner. 1998. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Fishes, Whales & Dolphins. Chanticleer Press Inc., New York, NY, USA.
Berlung A., G. Rosenqvist. 1993. Selective Males and Ardent Females in Pipefishes. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 32:331-336

Bay Pipefish

Bay Pipefish

At the Aquarium

Appearance

Habitat

Diet

Life History

IUCN Status

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

Citations & Other Resources

Contact Us

Subscribe to E-Newsletter

About Oregon Coast Aquarium