One of the earliest observations that we made during our dive at the old Rapid Bay jetty on 9th December 2022 was that the Scaly Fins were guarding the egg nests. They became quite aggressive when we approached anywhere near to their nests. They would swim straight at our face […]
Edgar Waite, Herbert Hale and Joseph Verco
Published on :I now have a copy of Edgar Waite and Herbert Hale’s “Review of the Lophobranchiate Fishes (Pipefishes and Seahorses) of South Australia”, thanks to the generosity of Robert Browne. The review is an ‘Authors’ Reprint’ “From Records of the South Australian Museum, Vol.1, No.4, January 29th, 1921”. Edgar R. Waite […]
Concerns About the Welfare of Leafy Seadragons at Rapid Bay
Published on :Concerns About the Welfare of Leafy Seadragons at Rapid Bay by Steve Reynolds The Scuba Divers Federation of South Australia recently issued a statement because of concerns about the welfare of leafy seadragons at Rapid Bay in light of increased diver activity whilst waiting for new steps to be built […]
Syngnathid Hotspot
Published on :This photo of the Normanville SLSC was taken from the “Syngnathid Hotspot” site: – Normanville SLSC (Taken by David Muirhead) ‘Syngnathid Hotspot’ (colloquial term only) is that area of shallow sand and seagrass directly off of the Normanville SLSC (roughly a hectare in total area and max depth is 5m […]
Pipefish encounters: One genus, two species, endless entertainment
Published on :Encounters of the kind below are not what most of us expect when at the beach for a swim and a bit of relaxation on a nice summer day. Which adds a special touch, for me at least. You can wade bare-footed at knee to waist depth off almost any white […]
Normanville Jetty and Hotspot
Published on :David Muirhead says that the Normanville jetty is “a pretty poor excuse for a jetty”. “I have, however, found some surprisingly good photographic subjects on the piles at high tide, which is all the more titillating given the entire jetty can be above the water mark,” he says. (The present […]
Shrimps, Seadragons and Siphonognathus argyrophanes
Published on :Shrimps, Seadragons and Siphonognathus argyrophanes (As told to Steve by David Muirhead) The fish Tubemouth, Siphonognathus argyrophanes, looks very pipefish-like, and many veteran divers incorrectly think that they are true pipefish. They are, however, in the same family as wrasses (Labridae), which includes the ‘rock cod’ or ‘parrotfish’, plus weed […]
Spotting Pipefish
Published on :David Muirhead and I had Facebook conversation about finding pipefish with one-time Society member Ron Bellchambers recently, after David had posted this photo of a Crested pipefish on his Facebook page: – Crested pipefish (a.k.a Briggs Crested pipefish) (Taken by David Muirhead) (This Crested pipefish is typically cryptic below detrital […]
ID of pipefish found at Sellicks Beach
Published on :We recently received a request via Facebook from Robbert Alexander to identify a pipefish species that he found on Sellicks Beach. Robbert sent us a photo of the pipefish and we told him that it was “Most likely Stigmatopora argus, the spotted pipefish”. We also gave him a link to […]
Pipefish Photos from our Port Hughes Dive
Published on :As reported in the article titled “Our ‘Pipefish’ Dive at Port Hughes”, we held a dive at the Port Hughes jetty on 2nd January 2016. The divers on the day consisted of Peter Gower, Chris Hall, Kevin Smith & I. A friend of Chris, and Kevin’s mother, were also there with […]