Artie made me do it! :D
This little Syngnathid is very close to my heart for a reason. Sydney's Pygmy Pipehorse (Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri) is found only along a small stretch of the NSW coastline in waters from about 8-30 (24-90 feet) meters of depth, their cryptic camouflage makes them almost impossible to detect for untrained eyes. These fish grow to a mere 60-70mm (2 1/2 - 3 inches or so) and live in high surge areas with a lot of water movement, where they hold the substrate tight and pick up small mysid shrimps and other morsels. Their color is varied, with some almost white with red markings, brown or this reddish look. There is a little story I wrote for a mate's Aussie diving website, which you can read here, if you want to be bored to tears.
Captured with a Nikonos V, 35mm lens with 1:3 extension tube, single overhead strobe. Fujichrome Sensia 100 ISO, f/16 at 1/60th. Cropped to 70% of original scan.






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