Madeira Canary Islands Azores – Fishes Dr. Peter Wirtz

and seahorses, it is the male that carries the eggs, in a pouch or a fold on the belly. Bony rings or half-rings
protect the body, instead of scales; this, however, reduces flexibility. Pipefishes and seahorses use their long
snout to suck up small animals as if it were a pipette. The “gestation period” of our seahorse species is only
three to five weeks (any time between April and October). The babies hatch with a length of about 15 mm.
Photo Peter Wirtz.
Great pipefish (Syngnathus acus)
Up to 46 cm long. Madeira, Canary Islands, Azores. 3 – 30 m depth.
The Great pipefish has a particularly long snout, by which it can be told apart from other pipefish species.
Males reach sexual maturity with about 30 cm length and carry the eggs on the belly, protected on the left and
right by a skin fold but open to view. The babies are born with a length of about 25 mm. Like most other
pipefishes, the Great pipefish mainly lives in sea grass meadows, but also between other plants on rock or
sand. Photo Peter Wirtz.
50
Scorpion fishes (Scorpaenidae)
Madeira-scorpionfish (Scorpaena maderensis)
Up to 15 cm long. Madeira, Canary Islands, Azores. 2 – 40 m depth.
Scorpion fishes owe their name to the many poisonous spines carried on the body. It is better to not touch
them! The sting hurts but is not really dangerous. The Madeira-scorpionfish is one of the most common fish
species on hard bottoms from the Azores to the Canary Islands. It can be recognized by the many small black
dots and the small white skin flaps on the head. The quite similar looking Canary-scorpionfish (see next page)