Seaweed pipefish
Amazing fact
The male seaweed pipefish cares for eggs in a pouch on its underside until they hatch.
瀬戸内海環境保全協会
No sign-up needed. You can save notes on this device.
An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
The male seaweed pipefish cares for eggs in a pouch on its underside until they hatch.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Seaweed pipefish
- Scientific name
- Syngnathus schlegeli
- Japanese name
- ヨウジウオ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Order
- Syngnathiformes
- Family
- Syngnathidae
- Genus
- Syngnathus
Where the name “Seaweed pipefish” comes from
The seaweed pipefish gets its Japanese name, youji-uo, from its toothpick-like body.
瀬戸内海環境保全協会It lives all around Japan except the Ryukyu Islands, and from the Gulf of Tonkin to Vladivostok and Taiwan.
It usually lives on the sea floor but often hovers in the water, and the young also gather on drifting seaweed.
How the Seaweed pipefish lives
It lives in shallow coastal vegetation, especially eelgrass beds in sheltered bays. It is a very weak swimmer and can be seen crawling along the seabed. It is also often seen staying still among seaweed and similar cover.
鶴岡市立加茂水族館瀬戸内海環境保全協会Basic data
- Range
- Japan excluding the Ryukyu Islands, from the Gulf of Tonkin to Vladivostok, and Taiwan
Where the Seaweed pipefish has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ヨウジウオ
- 简体中文
- 薛氏海龙
- 繁體中文
- 薛氏海龍
- 한국어
- 실고기
- Русский
- Тихоокеанская игла-рыба
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 鳥羽水族館 — ヨウジウオChecked: 2026-11-04
- 鶴岡市立加茂水族館 — ヨウジウオChecked: 2026-11-07
- 瀬戸内海環境保全協会 — ヨウジウオChecked: 2026-11-07
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeRELATIVES
Others in Syngnathidae
MORE TO MEET
