Common Name: Ornate Ghostpipefish

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-West Pacific region: from the Red Sea and East Africa to Fiji, north to southern Japan, south to New Caledonia. Recently recorded from Tonga. In Australia recorded from the Great Barrier Reef south to central New South Wales.

Ecological Notes: Frequents coastal and offshore reef near rock faces and drop offs in current prone areas, typically among branches of gorgonians, crionoids or floating weeds. Depth 4 – 35 m.

Additional Notes: Variable in colour from black to red and yellow, usually a mix of bands and spots. Their habit of floating vertically near the bottom, often in association with gorgonian corals and crinoids, ensures they are rarely observed. Feed on mysids and small benthic shrimps. Uncommon throughout range, usually observed singly on in pairs. Grows to 12 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.64.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Solenostomus+paradoxus. Accessed 09/07/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Solenostomus-paradoxus.html. Accessed 09/07/18.