WINSTON WEEKLY^[1]

April 12, 2026

Vol. 4, No. 15

PLIABLE PIPEFISH[2]

Slender and toothless, pipefish are related to the seahorse. With more than 225 species throughout the world, they suck in their prey with their long, tubular snout. Their existence has been traced back fifty million years. Swaying back and forth in seagrass beds, reefs, and rivers, popular American habitats include Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Florida. With bony-plated bodies, many pipefish change color to match their surroundings.

Chesapeake Bay is home to the Northern Pipefish and the Dusky Pipefish. Florida has several long-snouted and short-snouted pipefish, with Gulf pipefish common in freshwater habitats. Opossum Pipefish are plentiful in Florida’s 156-mile Indian River Lagoon. Florida is also home to the American Crested Pipefish, the Chain Pipefish and the White Nose Pipefish.

With most species of pipefish reaching an average length of six to eight inches, Hardwicke Pipefish are twenty inches long, while an adult Pygmy Pipefish is a mere inch. Australia, Japan and Vietnam are home to the Hardwicke. The Shortpouch Pygmy Pipefish prefer sandy rubble in the Indian Pacific, while Sydney’s Pygmy Pipefish cling to rocky reefs in New South Wales.

Although plentiful, pipefish habitats are increasingly at risk due to coastal development and harvesting for use in medicines.

WEEKLY ACTIVITY

Check out the Fish of the Week podcast for more on the pipefish and many other varieties of fish. As the website says, “The co-hosts bring their own excitement, knowledge and humor to help listeners walk away from each episode smiling and with practical information about how to live with, live from, discover and enjoy our amazing and valuable finned friends.”

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[1] A weekly blog/newsletter by Alysen Bayles to be shared with the appropriate attribute.

[2] Resources: Katrina Liebich and Eddie Perri, Florida’s Remarkable Opossum Pipefish, www.fws.gov;  Fish of the Week is a Monday podcast sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Erin Spencer, Cheers to Pipefish, Sept. 1, 2022, www.oceanconservancy.com; Rudie H. Kuiter, Seahorses, Pipefish and Their Relatives: A Comprehensive Guide, TMC Publishing, 2005.