I am pretty sure my dragon face pipefish are a mated pair. I have been observing them closely. Anyone ever raise pipefish??? One more thing to learn about! Yipe! :shock:
?Once these fish form pairs, they greet each other every morning at daybreak by circling each other with head raising and turning the body to show the markings below [the male has conspicuous black bars on the underside of the throat area]. This courtship routine intensifies, as the female becomes obviously gravid [apparent from her swollen belly], and the male is nearing readiness to incubate the brood [indicated by the expanded underside of his tail]. They may go through a number of practice spawning runs for several days, so when the time comes, they know the right moves.
Courtship proceeds with the pair repeatedly swimming up from the bottom, drifting along for a few seconds, and then sinking back to the bottom, until both pipefish are ready. The female?s readiness is indicated by her greatly swollen body and her large white ovipositor, and the male?s receptiveness is apparent from his behaviour and bright colours. Together they rise from the bottom and manoeuvre into position. The eggs are suddenly squeezed from the female in a long sticky ribbon as she swims upwards against the male, so that the eggs are stuck on to the male from the rear end of his tail up to his body. The female assists in securing the eggs onto the male by pushing the egg mass into place with her body.
After a few weeks, the babies hatch. They often break the shell and their tails can be seen hanging out. When they are ready to come out completely, the male begins to jerk his body sideways to dislodge some of the babies, then he swims up from the bottom and may violently shake all of them out in a few seconds. The progeny rapidly swim towards the surface to begin the pelagic stage of their life history.
?Once these fish form pairs, they greet each other every morning at daybreak by circling each other with head raising and turning the body to show the markings below [the male has conspicuous black bars on the underside of the throat area]. This courtship routine intensifies, as the female becomes obviously gravid [apparent from her swollen belly], and the male is nearing readiness to incubate the brood [indicated by the expanded underside of his tail]. They may go through a number of practice spawning runs for several days, so when the time comes, they know the right moves.
Courtship proceeds with the pair repeatedly swimming up from the bottom, drifting along for a few seconds, and then sinking back to the bottom, until both pipefish are ready. The female?s readiness is indicated by her greatly swollen body and her large white ovipositor, and the male?s receptiveness is apparent from his behaviour and bright colours. Together they rise from the bottom and manoeuvre into position. The eggs are suddenly squeezed from the female in a long sticky ribbon as she swims upwards against the male, so that the eggs are stuck on to the male from the rear end of his tail up to his body. The female assists in securing the eggs onto the male by pushing the egg mass into place with her body.
After a few weeks, the babies hatch. They often break the shell and their tails can be seen hanging out. When they are ready to come out completely, the male begins to jerk his body sideways to dislodge some of the babies, then he swims up from the bottom and may violently shake all of them out in a few seconds. The progeny rapidly swim towards the surface to begin the pelagic stage of their life history.
Baby pipes would be very very cool to raise!