Fish of the Syngnathus genus of the Syngnathinae (pipefishes) subfamily of the Syngnathidae family of the Syngnathiformes order of the Acanthopterygii superorder.
(Greater pipefish. Photo by © Robert A. Patzner. fishbase.org)
Greater pipefish (Syngnathus acus) was first described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778).
It inhabits the depths down to 110 meters, usually 3-12 meters. It prefers to swim close to the sandy and muddy bottom in the fields of the eelgrass and algae near the coast, often near the river mouths. The maximum recorded length is 50 cm; specimens up to 30 cm are more common. It feeds mainly on small crustaceans.
(Greater pipefish. Photo by © Johnny Jensen. jjphoto.dk)
It is a permanent inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of greater pipefish (Syngnathus acus) in other languages as follows:
Peshku gjëlpërë (Albanian), Grote zeenaald (Dutch), Σακκοράφα (Sakkorapha) (Greek), Mula (Spanish), Pesce ago (Italian), Große Seenadel (German), Iglik (Polish), Marinha-comum (Portuguese), Ac de mare (Romanian), Обыкновенная морская игла (Obyknovennaja morskaja igla) (Russian), Šilo obično (Serbian, Croatian), Veliko šilo (Slovenian), Deniziğnesi balığı (Turkish), Syngnathe-aiguille (French).