Bay Pipefish

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)