Example 3c

All images copyright protected, © Doug Segar and Elaine Stamman Segar

Here is a photograph of Syngnathoides biaculeatus photographed out in the open as it swam weakly from one clump of seagrass to another. Notice something odd about this one? It has a mass of round objects attached to its abdomen. This is a mass of eggs, which means that this is a male double-ended pipefish. Yes! Like many species of pipefish and the closely related seahorses, the male carries the eggs until they hatch. In many species the eggs are carried in a pouch on the male's abdomen. However, in the double-ended pipefish, they are simply attached externally to the abdomen.