pipefish

American  

[pahyp-fish] / ˈpaɪpˌfɪʃ /

noun

pipefishes plural

1. any elongated, marine and sometimes freshwater fish species of the family Syngnathidae, having a tubular snout and covered with bony plates.

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pipefish British  

/ ˈpaɪpˌfɪʃ /

noun

1. Also called: needlefish.  any of various teleost fishes of the genera Nerophis, Syngnathus, etc, having a long tubelike snout and an elongated body covered with bony plates: family Syngnathidae

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• pipefishes
  plural
• pipefish
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pipefish

First recorded in 1760–70; pipe ¹ + fish

Example Sentences

Many animals, like the sargassum pipefish, the sargassum slug, and the sargassum frogfish, have bodies that resemble in pattern, color, and shape the brown tendrils of seaweed.

From Slate • Jul. 16, 2023

The pipefish looks like a seagrass leaf - and for this reason, some prawns merge with its body, thinking they are leaves that move.

From BBC • Feb. 10, 2022

My back garden is gin-clear water – pipefish and turtles my nosy neighbours.

From The Guardian • Nov. 4, 2018

Bending the neck on the pipefish model, for example, resulted in a 28 percent increase in strike distance.

From Scientific American • Feb. 1, 2011

So, do male pipefish exhibit this kind of behavior — what scientists call postcopulatory sexual selection — as well?

From New York Times • Mar. 22, 2010