Author: Browne & Smith, 2007
FBname: Southern Gulf pipefish
Comments: All specimens were collected or photographed in sheltered shallow open water at 1-5 m depth over a substrate of a mosaic of patches of brown algae, with <i>Posidonia</i> or <i>Zostera</i>.  It appears to have a very limited inshore distribution along patches of moderate energy coastlines with low turbidity and a broken vegetation pattern of seagrass and brown algae.  The restricted inshore habitat may be particularly vulnerable to pollutants or exotic marine species.  The eggs of this species are deposited in two layers, a basal and then an external layer. A  specimen with the greatest recorded number of eggs had 3 staggered rows of 64 basal membranous egg compartments on the tail, with the  basal layer of eggs covered by a membrane with matching rows of egg pouches; the second layer with 34 eggs within the brood pouch folds resulted in a total of 98 eggs.  Total lengths of  larvae at hatching is 1.8 cm (vs. 1.3 cm in <i>S. nigra</i> and 3.2 cm in <i>S. argus</i>.  Males of this species have extended brood
  patches from December to March, and juveniles < 9.0 cm are seen from December to March. Males also can mature at 11.3 cm.  The maximum recorded brood was 98 eggs which was far greater than that recorded by for <i>S. nigra</i> which is approximately 25 and for <i>S. argus</i> with 41 eggs (Ref. 75062).