Ghost Pipefish

Scuba Diving with Borneo Dream in Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

During many of our scuba diving day trips to Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park recently we have been lucky enough to spot several Ornate Ghost Pipefish. We’ve found them scuba diving along some our favorite dive sites in TARP, near Kota Kinabalu, such as Edgell Patches, Sulug South Reef, Sulug North Reef and Ron’s Reef.

Ornate Ghost Pipefish

Ghost Pipefish are stunning to look at and typically very hard to spot. This makes seeing several of them whilst diving in our local Marine Park a real find.

Ghost Pipefishes are related to Pipefishes and Seahorses. They are found in tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, from Asia to Africa. Ornate Ghost Pipefish reach a maximum length of 12 cm. They vary in color from red, yellow to black and are almost transparent.

Purfect Camouflage

They typically float near motionlessly, with the mouth facing downwards, around a background that makes them almost impossible to see.

Ghost Pipefish live in open waters except during breeding, when they find a coral reef or muddy bottom, changing color and shape to minimize visibility. Once they have mated, females carry the eggs in their pelvic fins that are modified to form a brood pouch.

Waiting for a mate

So March has been a busy month for mating Ornate Ghost Pipefish resident in Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. If you fancy coming to see some of the fascinating marine life during scuba diving trips from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah then just contact the Borneo Dream team. Our Dive Guides will be ready to find you something special during every dive

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 10:56 pm and is filed under Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.