Both have a shell of bony plates around the body and belong to the same order of sticklebacks, in which there are two different groups (sticklebacks and aciculars).

Some scientists even distinguish the spiny fish into an independent order: the fish of this group are so unique in appearance, structural features and their biology (in particular, reproduction strategy). A photo of a needle fish shows a snake-like creature with an elongated tube-shaped snout.

You can recall several species of fish that resemble a snake - eels, moray eels and pipefish. The latter are completely unique living creatures, which are very close relatives, since they belong to the same needle family (Syngnathidae).

This article is dedicated specifically to needles. All representatives of needlefish have an elongated body with a long tail and a small (or absent) caudal fin. The snout, at the end of which there is a buzz-toothed mouth, is elongated into a tube and serves to suck in food objects along with water. An enlarged photo of a needle fish makes it possible to examine the details of the structure of its head and snout.

The color of these fish is very diverse and can vary depending on the surrounding background of their habitat. There are red and purple needles, brown and bright green, gray with various spots and even almost white (coral inhabitants): scientists have described more than one hundred and fifty species of these unusual fish. The body length of adult individuals varies from 25 millimeters to 60 centimeters in different species.

Habitat and biological features

Most needlefish live in warm waters, and very few inhabitants of temperate seas. The habitat is always a coastal zone with sandy soil and thickets of sea grass (zoster) or algae, and corals. Rare exceptions are a few pelagic species that are not associated with the coast. They even inhabit the open part of the Atlantic Ocean, for example, the Sargasso Sea.

A peculiarity of the appearance of needle fish is that the needle fish has practically no well-developed and noticeable fins, with the exception of the pectoral fins, which are the main motor organ of these original fish:

• The dorsal fin is small and strongly shifted towards the rear of the body. It all consists only of soft rays that oscillate in waves when the fish swims.
• The caudal fin is also small and usually laterally compressed.
• The size of the anal fin is so “microscopic” that it is practically invisible.
• There are no pelvic fins at all.

Nutrition and reproduction

The tube-shaped snout of the needle operates on the principle of a pipette: prey is drawn into the mouth with a stream of water even from a distance of 40 millimeters. This happens at the moment when the fish inflates its “cheeks”. The food is a variety of small planktonic crustaceans. The length of the snout varies among different species, which is clearly visible in the photo.

Caring for offspring

Like all representatives of the Stickleback order, the needlefish takes care of its offspring, and nature has assigned this “honorable duty” to the male.

In most species of pipefish, male individuals on the ventral part of the body (sometimes under the caudal peduncle) have special folds of skin that extend from the sides. When their edges meet, they form a kind of brood pouch, the length of which is approximately one third of the length of the fish’s body.

The laying of eggs is preceded by a very interesting and majestic courtship dance, which ends with the female entwining herself around the male. It is in this position that the eggs are laid by the female in a leathery pouch on the male’s abdomen or (in the absence of a pouch) in a special groove. The eggs are deposited in batches. The male fertilizes each portion. The serpentine needlefish does not have a pouch, and in this species the eggs attached to the abdomen are open and not protected by anything.

The eggs are kept in the father's pouch until the fry hatch. And even for some time after their birth, they live in this peculiar house. To release his cubs for a “walk,” the male bends his body upward in the form of an arc, while the pouch opens. When danger appears, the kids rush back into the bag to hide.

Variety of pipefish

The most numerous genus of these unique snake-like fish is the common pipefish (scientific name Syngnathus). It unites approximately 50 species. In the waters of the Russian seas, representatives of this genus are found in the Black and Japanese Seas. Some of them are often kept in aquariums: marine and freshwater. Aquarists consider the most interesting species to be the plump-cheeked Black Sea pipefish, which can live not only in the salt water of the Black Sea, but also enters rivers and lakes, where it has perfectly adapted to life in fresh water.

Plump-cheeked Black Sea pipefish

Black Sea needle fish caught in lakes or reservoirs can be successfully kept in home freshwater aquariums. This is a small fish with a maximum length of up to 21 centimeters (usually up to 15), brown or greenish in color with light stripes across the body.

They reach sexual maturity at a length of about 10 centimeters. Males are larger compared to females. Their caudal peduncle is slightly flattened below. In this place there is a whitish brood chamber, where the female spawns eggs.

Particular attention should be paid to the eyes of pipefish: they are convex, quite large and extremely mobile. Each eye is capable of moving completely independently of the other. It is this feature that allows fish to successfully find their small food in the surrounding space.

How they move and catch food

The fish needle moves smoothly. When stopping, it relies on its tail, which is a support, so it always touches either the ground or underwater plants. During hunting, the body of the fish can bend in different directions so that the needle takes on very unusual and interesting poses.

In searching for food, vision plays a very important role: the needle fish constantly moves its large, expressive eyes and finds small crustaceans, even if they hide somewhere.

Having noticed the prey, the fish freezes in such a position that its proboscis is at a short distance from the victim. Then the needle quickly spreads its gill covers and makes a sharp movement of its head, sucking in water along with the prey. The needlefish can devote all its time to such a hunt and extract cyclops crustaceans even from under snags and stones.

How and what to feed in an aquarium

Due to the peculiarities of nutrition, properly selected food is the main condition for the successful maintenance of needles in aquariums. The optimal food is cyclops, which must always be present in the aquarium, because the fish spend almost the entire day hunting. You can cut the tubifex, but the fish will be reluctant to take it, perhaps because it is not suitable for them.

Aquarists have noticed that in the absence of cyclops or small daphnia in the aquarium, needle fish quickly lose weight and then often die.

Primorsky pipefish

In the Yellow Sea and the Sea of ​​Japan (including in the Russian waters of the Primorsky Territory), the coastal pipefish (Syngnathus acusimilis) lives near the continental coasts. It lives in shallow water in thickets of coastal vegetation, and is sometimes seen in desalinated areas of river mouths.

Maximum length – 30 centimeters. The breeding season is very extended: from the beginning of June, when the water warms up to 12 degrees, until September. But most often spawning individuals can be found at coastal water temperatures of about 20 degrees. Like all needlefishes, the offspring are cared for by the father, who carries the developing eggs in his brood chamber. This chamber is located on the abdomen closer to the tail part of the male’s body and can accommodate up to one and a half thousand eggs, each of which has a diameter of slightly more than 1 millimeter.

The fertility of one female is about 500 eggs, so the male often accepts eggs from 2-3 females, which they lay in turn.

The development of embryos continues for a month, by the end of which the length of the larvae reaches 1 centimeter or more. At this time, the juveniles leave the brood chamber of their parent and begin independent life. The seaside needle fish feeds on various small crustaceans.

Comes from Southeast Asia. The habitat extends from Pakistan and India further east to Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. Wild populations were brought to the islands of Hawaii, where they successfully took root.
They inhabit slow-moving rivers and streams, swamps. During the rainy season, as the water level rises, they swim into faster rivers, artificial and irrigation canals. They prefer dimly lit places with dense coastal vegetation.

Brief information:

• Aquarium volume - from 500 l.
• Temperature - 22–28°C
• pH value - 6.0–8.0
• Water hardness - soft to medium hard (2–15 dGH)
• Substrate type - any
• Lighting - dim
• Brackish water - no
• Water movement - weak/moderate
• Fish size - up to 35 cm.
• Food - live and fresh food
• Temperament - peaceful
• Keeping in a group of 3–4 individuals

Description

Adult individuals reach a length of up to 35 cm. A characteristic feature of the species is the structure of the body - very thin and very elongated. Thanks to this shape, the fish received one of its names “Silver Needle”. Sexual dimorphism is weakly expressed. Nevertheless, it is quite easy to distinguish a male from a female. In males, the dorsal and anal fins have a black border. In addition, during the mating season, a small hump grows behind the head, the lower jaw acquires a reddish tint, and the abdomen becomes yellow-gold.

Nutrition

A predator, in nature it feeds on small fish and insects. In a home aquarium, adults should be fed strips of fish meat, shrimp, mussels, large earthworms, flies, crickets and other insects. Young specimens can be content with small earthworms and pieces of shrimp.

Maintenance and care, arrangement of the aquarium

The optimal size of a tank for 3-4 fish starts from 500 liters, the depth should be at least 30 cm. The design should include dense clusters of plants placed along the walls of the aquarium, thus preserving free areas for swimming. The lighting is dim. The presence of plants floating on the surface and hanging over the water is welcome. Since they serve as an additional means of shading, in this case it will be necessary to increase the brightness of the light. Other decorative elements and soil are selected at the discretion of the aquarist.
A productive filtration system is mandatory when keeping predatory species. In addition to the power of the filter, you should pay attention to what and how the purified water is returned. Depending on the models and types of filters, water is returned in different ways, some of which create excess flow. In the case of Freshwater Spinefish, internal current should be minimal.
High quality water is also maintained by its weekly change (20–30% of volume) and regular removal of organic waste from the surface of the substrate and decorative elements.

Behavior and Compatibility

Predatory, but not aggressive species. The garfish is able to get along with other calm fish that are large enough to fit into its mouth. It is worth avoiding the settlement of overly active and restless species, such as Barbs. There are no intraspecific conflicts. It prefers to stay in a small flock of three to four individuals.

Breeding/reproduction

Breeding pipefish in a home aquarium is difficult due to the need to recreate the changes in habitat conditions that occur in nature. The mating season occurs from May to September, when large amounts of precipitation falls in Southeast Asia, changing the hydrochemical composition of the water and lowering its temperature. The female lays several eggs daily, attaching them to the flooded vegetation with thin adhesive threads. The incubation period lasts from 7 to 10 days. The hatched fry feed on zooplankton. As they grow older, larger fish may eat their smaller counterparts.

Photo 1 of 3

Needlefish has a long, very thin body, with a long caudal peduncle, covered with hexagonal rings of bone plates. The snout is tubular and long (especially in Caspian populations), and has scallops on its sides. The gill covers are strongly convex and have a crest only in front. There is a faint ridge on the crown. The dorsal fin is long and begins in front of the anus, the caudal fin is very small. There are 15-17 trunk girdles, 36-41 caudal girdles. There are 7-9 (10) belts under the dorsal fin.

The body color is greenish-brown or reddish-brown, with light transverse stripes in the middle of each girdle. The belly is whitish and the ventral carina is blackish. There are no spots on the dorsal fin. The needle fish grows slowly, reaching a length of 19 cm and a weight of 5 g at 5 years. The maximum age is 6 years, length up to 23 cm, weight up to 5 g.

Euryhaline species, can live in both fresh and salt waters (up to 35). Found in thickets of aquatic plants. In the spring, sea needle fish enters rivers and lakes, sometimes rising to considerable distances (in the Dnieper up to 900 km). The freshwater form leads a watery lifestyle in lakes, reservoirs and oxbow lakes, adhering to the same habitats throughout its life. Pipefish feed on small crustaceans, juveniles only on zooplankton, and adults on plankton, large crustaceans, insect larvae, and sometimes larvae and juvenile fish. In search of a victim, it navigates using vision.

Spawning occurs in May-June. The process of reproduction is very peculiar. After mating games with a partner, the female wraps herself around him and lays eggs in the male’s brood chamber located on the caudal peduncle. In this case, the eggs are fertilized, after which the brood chamber is closed by a leathery fold. Fecundity is low, up to 100 eggs. At one time, the female can lay up to 20 eggs. If the male's brood chamber is not full, he can accept eggs from another female. During the season, the female lays up to three portions of eggs.

Males with eggs and embryos in the brood chamber were found in May-July, in the Volga reservoirs in June-August. The eggs are located in the cells of the brood chamber and are completely isolated from the external environment. She receives oxygen from the father's blood flowing to the mucous membrane of the brood chamber. There can be 30-85 eggs in the chamber; in small males they are arranged in 2 rows, in large males in 3 rows. The male carries the eggs and then the larvae until the end of August. After the fry emerge, the mucous membrane separates, similar to the placenta of mammals.

The needle fish is widespread along all shores of the Caspian, Black and Azov seas, and enters rivers and associated lakes. In the Caspian Sea it lives in all areas; a dwarf form was discovered in the salty bays of Dead Kultuk and Kaydak. It is found in fresh water, in the deltas of the Volga, Ural, Terek, lower reaches of the Kura and in rivers of the southern coast of the sea. Before the regulation of the Volga, it did not rise above Astrakhan. In recent decades, the needle has been rising up the Volga. It was first discovered in the Kuibyshev reservoir in 1962; later it was also noted in the Volgograd, Saratov and even Rybinsk reservoirs. Perhaps the Caspian subspecies is self-dispersing from the lower reaches of the Volga, or it was accidentally brought here during the acclimatization of mysids from the Tsimlyansk Reservoir (a typical Black Sea subspecies). In the Azov Sea basin, the Black Sea needle is widespread in the Kuban estuaries in water with varying salinity. It had not been recorded before in the Kuban and its tributaries, as well as in the Seversky Donets, but after the construction of the Krasnodar reservoir it populated the lower reaches of the Kuban. In the Don basin it is found in the lower reaches. Available in Lake Paleostomi.

Needlefish (a representative of the Iglovy family) is an interesting species of fish that lives in the depths of the Black and Azov Seas. Has a characteristic long shape. They lead a similar lifestyle and reproduction to seahorses.

Scientists have concluded that more than 10 million years ago, pipefish acquired a protective color and began to move vertically due to the formation of shallow waters in the Pacific Ocean. They got their name from their characteristic appearance, reminiscent of a long needle. Their length is no more than half a meter. Due to the lack of many fins, pipefish do not swim very fast. Some species hold onto algae with their tails during strong currents. This also helps them camouflage themselves from predators.

The needle fish has the ability to take on the desired color during approaching danger, like a chameleon. No teeth. The body is covered with hard plates. It is found in gray-green and brown shades.

Lifestyle

Habitat: salt or fresh water. The fish lives in rocks and coral reefs, preferring not to go deeper than 10 meters. It feeds on small crustaceans, shrimp, and plankton.

They are food for dolphins and larger predators.

Reproduction

Pipefish spawn in early summer. To do this, some species move to freshwater bodies. The method of raising babies is the same as for seahorses. The female lays eggs, and until they hatch, they are guarded by the male in a special pouch. Small fry also prefer to stay near the male. The fish lives up to three years.

Some species spend their lives with one partner, but mostly active females lay eggs from different males.

Fishing

Fishermen are not particularly interested in needlefish. They prey on larger sea creatures, although needlefish also sometimes get hooked. Using it as bait is also not very convenient.

Sometimes this type of fish is served in expensive restaurants as a delicacy.

It is not without reason that the needlefish bears its name. Its elongated, very thin body, tapering towards the tip of the tail, is covered with hard bone plates.

The pipefish, a pale-colored fish, can be found in piles of discarded seaweed and grass after a storm.

It is not without reason that the needlefish bears its name. Its elongated, very thin body, tapering towards the tip of the tail, is covered with hard bone plates. This species does not have caudal, anal or ventral fins. But there are pipefish with a well-developed caudal fin. The mouth of the pipefish is small, located at the end of a slightly elongated snout. It feeds on small worms and various crustaceans. The pipefish swims, bending its long body like a snake. The needle reaches a length of 30 cm, but smaller fish are usually found. The males of all pipefish are smaller than the females.

Pipefish are the closest relatives of seahorses, one species of which lives in the Black Sea. All these fish are characterized by a special form of care for the offspring: the male has a special brood chamber on the ventral side of the body, closer to the tail, where he bears the developing eggs, which the female lays there; males with eggs are found from May to August. Needle fry begin to lead an independent life at a length of 9 mm. The needlefish does not have any practical significance, but it is often found in the diet of many fish. It is very interesting to observe her behavior in the aquarium.

The pipefish is found in the Gulf of Finland as far as Kronstadt and Lomonosov, but is rare here and, according to fishermen, is usually caught after strong storms. It avoids fresh water, like other sea fish, but was once caught in a river, 10 km from the mouth.

Internet source:

http://fish-news.teia.org/m-igla. htm