Picked these two fellows up today.
Labeled as redstripe pipefish M.brachyurus
The shop guy told me they should not be kept in brackish or saltwater.
They also eat frostfood otherwise I wouldve left them at the shop.
Anybody out there who could identify them? In all books i have M.b. doesnt have red coloration...
Last edited by Caol_ila on 11 Nov 2005, 10:09, edited 1 time in total.
There are quite a number of subspecies of M. brachyurus (which has a very wide distribution). Knowing where your fish came from would help in narrowing choices.
I'll try to find out.
How difficult is it to sex them?
I have some drawings in Sterba but having these slim fish before me it looks much more difficult.
Are these fast water fish? Mine seem to prefer standing in the current (not that I have much in this tank) all books tell me they come from still to slow moving habitats.
The only true freshwater pipefishes from Borneo are members of the genus Doryichthys (and only D. boaja reaches the size of your fish). I know for certain that your fish is not D. boaja, so either the fish has been transshipped from Borneo (or more likely from Singapore), or my ID is wrong.
I forgot to add that most freshwater pipefishes I know inhabit fairly swift streams, where they can be found hiding amongst the vegetation against the bank.
I've zero experience with fresh water pipefish, and am most definitely no expert, but have had some dealing with marine/brackish water ones...
First of all, I'm amazed to hear they're fast-water fish. Marine pipefish are god-awful swimmers, every bit as poor swimmers as their close relatives the seahorses, and spend most of their time clinging to vegetation in sheltered bays.
Secondly, I think both your fish are males. Both seems to have a brooding-pouch on the belly (especially the one in your last images), where the males brood the eggs deposited by the female.
Out of personal curiosity, what do you feed them? Marine pipefish (and seahorses) are notoriously difficult to get to accept anything but small live food (e.g. mysis & artemia).
The up-side is that if you do get them to breed, the young will be able to eat freshly hatched artemia as soon as they leave the brood pouch.
After checking Dawson's book on Indo-Pacific pipefishes, I discovered that the fish I had identified as M. deocata is actually M. brachyurus (although this species had not been recorded from northern India by Dawson). The green pipefish collected in India I had thought was M. cuncalus is actually M. deocata.
Final verdict: M. brachyurus.
As for habitats, I collected M. deocata in habitats where loaches, Pseudolaguvia and Amblyceps were also caught. I have caught plenty of Doryichthys from habitats in Southeast Asia where Glyptothorax and Homaloptera also occur.
@mike frozen white and red mosquito larvea and cyclopeeze so far. I actually havent seen them eat but they pooped a lot so I think they must've eaten something of this. These survived for a time in a crappy garden center lfs so I took my chance theyd not be too picky.
One of them is much slimmer than the other and shows different coloration...but they only had two so I didnt have much choice.
thx for ID HH
I added a 300 l/h pump today and they seemed much happier in that current.
The wholesaler sent me a note they'd receive 300 M.deocata next week and be able to ship them in 2-4 weeks depending on health. Is that a fish worth picking up with the M.b. allready in the tank?
Just came home from my fiances place where I stay over the weekends and the "needles" (Süsswassernadel=sweetwaterneedle) look really good. Ive had them on cyclopeeze in a feeder machine for the last 3 days and they seem to have eaten that stuff. They also just feasted on frozen white-mosq-larvea and are quite active.
@racoll I guess salt wouldnt harm them but from what i understand the old fish move up the rivers when they are old and dont need salt to survive? I guess breeding them wont be possible w/o salt added...if i notice any health problems I might change that.
Thinking about the green needles Ill first ask if they take "dead/dry" food and if not thats a good reason for me not to take them.
