Notes on Four Pipefishes (Syngnathidae) from the Persian Gulf

Abstract

SMITH (1963) and others have treated a number of pipefis es from the Red Sea and western Indian Ocean but specimens or records are few from the Persian (Arabian) Gulf. Duncker (1915) described Syngnathus analicarens and Ichthyocampus townsendi [=Festucalex erythraeus (Gilbert)] from the Persischer Golf but the type locality for each is actually the Makran coast of Iran (E of the Straits of Hormuz) and not the Persian Gulf (Dawson, 1977a). Blegvad (1944) did not include pipefishes in his report on the fishes of-the Gulf, they were merely mentioned by Kuronuma and Abe (1972) and there appear to be no other published records of Persian Gulf pipefishes. I here report on four syngnathine (tail-pouch) pipefishes from the region. Three poorly known species are described and illustrated and their systematic status is discussed. Measurements are in millimeters (mm); proportional data are referred to standard length (SL) or head length (HL); color descriptions are, except where noted, from specimens preserved in alcohol; depths are in meters (m); other methods follow Dawson (1977a). Abbreviations for repositories of materials examined are: ANSP-Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia; BMNH-British Museum (Natural History); CAS-California Academy of Sciences; GCRL-Gulf Coast Research Laboratory Museum; HUJ-Hebrew University of Jerusalem; MNHN-Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris; USNM-National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution; ZSI-Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta.