Species: Cosmocampus brachycephalus, Crested Pipefish
snout v short, upturned
crest on head
Cosmocampus brachycephalus (Poey, 1868)
Crested Pipefish
Body and tail short and thick; snout very short, upturned; prominent bony crest on top of head; operculum with longitudinal ridge angled up towards gill opening; dorsal 22-23 rays; anal 2-3 rays; pectoral 11-15 rays; no pelvic fins; tail 10 rays; upper trunk and tail ridges not joined; ridge on flank of body straight, ends near anus; lower trunk and tail ridges joined; main body ridges sometimes with spines at end of rings; usually with skin flaps; trunk rings 16-18; 0-2.75 trunk rings under dorsal fin; tail rings 26-27; brood pouch under tail, with folds.
Body brown, with broken black lines; underside of head barred.
Reaches 12 cm.
Lives in vegetated bottoms, including seagrass beds and mangrove lagoons with clear water and sandy bottoms.
Depth range: 0-50 m, nearshore.
Bermuda to the S Caribbean.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Brackish
- Marine
- Inshore/Offshore
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- Inshore
- Inshore Only
- Water Column Position
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- Bottom
- Habitat
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- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- Soft bottom only
- Submerged vegetation
- Estuary
- Mangrove
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- FishBase Habitat
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- Demersal
- Reef Associated
- Feeding Group
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- Carnivore
- Data
- Diet
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- Data
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Egg Type
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- Data
- Live birth
- Pelagic larva
- Global Endemism
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- All species
- Greater Caribbean endemic
- West Atlantic Endemic
- Regional Endemism
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- Continent
- Continent + Island (s)
- GC endemic
- Island (s)
- All species
- Residency
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- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
- Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
- Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
- IUCN Red List
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- Least concern
- Listed
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 12
- Depth Range Min
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- 0
- Depth Range Max
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- 50
