[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/49536991[/vimeo]
This video of the blueline Honshu Pipefish shows male and female Dorhyrhamphus japonicus dancing around each other as well as a pregant male carrying a full clutch of eggs on his vent. Pipefish are such cool animals, yet they hardly get the attention they deserve. Unlike the much more popular seahorses, many pipefish are small and small-mouthed and readily do well in smallish aquaria, especially in well established reef aquariums with plenty of pods. We are particularly fond of the blue line / blue stripe pipefish of the genus Dorhyrhamphus.
Not only are bluestripe pipefish small and colorful, but the other thing that is small about the blue stripes is their price – you can usually pick them up for $30-40 a piece making it easy to pick up a pair. You’ll want a pair of blue stripe pipefish too because they are very easy to spawn, even if their fully-formed young need a special environment to grow up properly. The next time you see the small and cute blue stripe pipefish of several species, consider whether they’d make a good addition to your small or medium sized aquarium.
