Worm Pipefish

Pectoral and caudal fins absent. Anal opening below front end of the dorsal fin. With 17-19 body rings. The snout is short and bent upwards (Ref. 35388).

Males brood their offspring attached to their flattened ventral surface. All throughout the gestation period, parental care is strictly paternal. No further care is needed once the newborn juveniles become free-swimming (Ref. 42359).Sex roles are reversed in this species. The females are the courting sex and change color more intensely than the males (Ref. 42363). Unlike in other pipefishes, the courtship ritual takes place in close contact with the substratum which may characterise adaptation to typical intertidal conditions (Ref. 42363).

Intertidal to about 30 m (Ref. 6733), among rocks or holdfasts and lower branches of algae (Ref. 4509). Spawn in the summer months. Become sexually mature at an age of 2 years. Feed on small crustaceans and fish fry (Ref. 35388). Larvae are attached to the ventral surface of the males (Ref. 42359). Ovoviviparous (Ref. 205). Parental care is exclusively paternal (Ref. 42359). The male carries the eggs in a brood pouch which is found under the tail (Ref. 205).