Dykning med Rørfisk

Koh Lantas Marineliv | Syngnathinae

Pibefisk er en underfamilie af små fisk, der er nært beslægtet med søheste, ja, de ligner ligefrem søheste og har en lang rørlignende snude, der ender i en lille, tandløs, smal mund, som åbner sig opad.

Kroppen er indkapslet i benede ringe, der ligner en søhests hale, og kan nogle gange findes, når man dykker fra Koh Lanta.

Rørfisk har lange, tynde kroppe og er slangelignende. De fleste af disse fisk har halefinner, men nogle har haler, der ligner søheste, idet de kan krølle sig sammen og fastgøre eller fastholde genstande.

Alle arter har en rygfinne, som er den vigtigste svømmemetode, mens andre finner er fraværende eller underudviklede hos de fleste arter. De er langsomme, svage svømmere.

Hunnerne lægger æg hos hannen, som befrugter dem og tager sig af dem. Hannen ruger på afkommet enten på et særligt område af sin krop eller i en rugepose, afhængigt af arten.

2 arter fundet på denne side:

Short-Tailed Pipefish (Trachyrhamphus bicoarctatus)
Janss' Pipefish (Doryrhamphus janssi)

Short-Tailed Pipefish

(Trachyrhamphus bicoarctatus)

Trachyrhamphus bicoarctatus @ Koh Haa

The short-tailed pipefish is a slender fish with a very small tail and grows up to 40 cm in length. This is a solitary fish living in sand, rubble and weeds around coral reefs and can be found down to 25 m.

The short-tailed pipefish can be black, or shades of green, brown, white and yellow with fine speckling. In addition to its short tail, this species can also be distinguished by its head often being raised, with a bent-neck, facing into the water column to feed on passing zooplankton.

Janss' Pipefish

(Doryrhamphus janssi)

As with other Syngnathiformes, the Janss' Pipefish has a long, slender body, with an elongated, tubular mouth. The main body colour is bright orange. The head and rear body are blue. The black tail is flag-like, with a white margin and white dot in the center.

Doryrhamphus janssi @ Phi Phi Palong

The Janss' Pipefish is a cleaner fish, feeding on parasites and dead tissue from damselfish and cardinalfish. This species grows to 14 cm and is often found swimming in pairs under rocky overhangs or under large plate corals.

Doryrhamphus janssi @ Phi Phi Palong

After an elaborate courtship dance, the female Janss' Pipefish attaches her eggs to a flat area on the underside of the male’s body, where the males will brood the young, similar to many seahorse species.

When brooding, the males will have a flattened appearance due to the brood pouch.