Ever heard of a mushroom coral pipefish?

[mochaclownlover]

Just stumbled upon these guys while on Melev's reef, do any of you guys/gals own one?

 

[vlangel]

Nope, never heard of them. They surely are a crazy looking creature!

 

[Shep]

...I want these

 

[miyags]

Nope.Thats a first for me.Cool!!!

 

[ReefMadScientist]

What is it today....learn new fish species day? This is the second fish I learned about today on r2r lol

 

[143MPCo]

Had to look it up....

MUSHROOM CORAL PIPEFISH
(Siokunichthys nigrolineatus)

The mushroom coral pipefish is only found among the tentacles of the anemone-like long-tentacle mushroom coral (Heliofungia actiniformis). It rarely if ever leaves the sanctuary of its hosts tentacles and probably feeds on organisms that become trapped in the coral's mucus (there is some evidence it may also eat mucus or feed on the coral's tissue). It does occur singly, but is most often found in small groups. These aggregations often include several different age classes. Male mushroom coral pipefish start brooding eggs when they are as small as 4.5 cm. This genus contains five species, several of which associate with cnidarians. All of the members of the genus have a short snout and are plain in color. The mushroom coral pipefish is white with a thin diagonal line the runs through the eye.

 

[143MPCo]

 

[mochaclownlover]

If i knew where to get one i'd get one(and tell you guys of course)

 

[Squishie89]

I looked into these before and/or it has come up somewhere before (maybe facebook). I imagine their size is one of the reasons we don't see them very often, if at all. Only getting as big as 3 inches. Pipefish are already small, skinny creatures, these are just that much skinnier! Also being that it prefers a specific host, similar to the Pygmy Seahorses that use specific gorgonians, which makes keeping them extremely difficult.

Here is some reasons why they are hard to find/photograph, with a video; http://www.liquidguru.com/mushroom-coral-pipefish-siokunichthys-nigrolineatus/