Ghost pipefishes

Scientific name : Solenostomidae

It is not easy to say which fishes are the strangest of the reef, but for sure ghost pipe fishes rank within the top ten.
Thin body, huge head, large fins give to those animals the appearance of something that is not a fish. Very difficult to see due to their ability in camouflage.They belong to bony fish class and to Syngnathiformes order. They are small fishes with very elongate snout, large fins, 2 dorsal fins, small body covered with bony plates.
The jaws are fused in an elongate, tubular snout, with terminal teethless mouth. For feeding, they can create a depression within the tubular snout, then they suddendly open the mouth sucking the prey (like all Syngnathiformes).
The female, larger than the male, has ventral fins forming a pouch for eggs incubation. This is one of the few cases of feminine parental cares, more often amongst fishes the male takes care of the eggs. In the above picture a detail of the ventral fins of a female Solenostomus paradoxus, with eggs visible.
Common normally in coastal shallow water, in lagoon, bay, or on the back reef. They have a very long juvenile planktonic stage, after which they settle close to the bottom in pairs. They feed on small crustaceans, sucked through the pipe like mouth and swallowed.
Somehow similar to syngnathids, but only solenostomid have large fins.
Normally they are seen in pairs, the female larger, hovering head down, apparently drifting in the undertow.