Common Name: Bay Pipefish
Scientific Name: Syngnathus leptorhynchus
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family: Animalia, Chordata, Actinopterygii, Syngnathiformes, Syngnathidae
Diet: Small crustaceans and zooplankton
Habitat: Depths ~150 meters, eelgrass beds, intertidal
Range: Eastern Pacific Ocean, Prince William Sound, Alaska to Bahia Santa Maria, Baja California, Mexico
Identification: Long, slender, variations in color
Reproduction: Polygyny, ~12 broods of several hundred young within 1-2 years (lifespan)
Behavior: Males become pregnant when females deposit eggs into the male’s brood pouch and give birth to live young. These are related to Seahorses (they both fall under the family Syngnathidae)
Predators: Brown smoothhounds (a type of shark), spotted sand bass (fish), and elegant terns (birds)
