Bellybar Pipefish

Interesting Info

• The Bellybar Pipefish are found across northern and eastern coasts, from Western Australia’s Kimberley region across the Top End, down the Queensland coast, and into New South Wales estuaries.
• It is a slender, snake-like fish that belongs to the same family as seahorses. Its long, narrow body is covered in bony rings instead of scales.
• It gets its name from the distinctive dark bar or “belly stripe” that runs across its underside, making it one of the easier pipefish to recognise.
• Like other pipefish, they use a tiny tube-like snout to suck up food such as plankton, small crustaceans, and larvae. They are stealthy feeders, slowly sneaking up on prey before slurping it in.
• Found in estuaries, seagrass beds, and mangrove creeks, they prefer calm, sheltered waters where they can camouflage among plants.
• They are poor swimmers, relying on camouflage and stillness rather than speed to avoid predators. Their ability to look like drifting blades of seagrass makes them almost invisible.
• Bellybar Pipefish are famous for their unique breeding role reversal — females deposit eggs into a special brood pouch on the male’s belly, where he fertilises and protects them until they hatch.
• Spawning often happens in warm months when seagrass beds are thickest, giving young pipefish plenty of shelter.
• The male’s brood pouch is like a tiny nursery, supplying oxygen and nutrients to the developing embryos, much like a placenta in mammals.
• Adults usually grow to about 12–16 cm (5–6 in) long, though some may reach up to 18 cm (7 in).
• Their lifespan in the wild is not well-studied, but related pipefish usually live around 3–5 years.