Rudie Hermann Kuiter, Aquatic Photographics, Australien
Info
Vanacampus phillipi is a brownish sea needle with indistinct stripes and spots.
Females have blue stripes on the upper side and along the tail, especially larger specimens.
The underside of the head of females usually has irregular dark spots or stripes, while in adult males it is pale.
In adult males, the lower half of the operculum and the underside of the head are usually pale.
The pipefish feeds during the day on small benthic crustaceans on the substrate, for example, calanoid copepods and gammarid amphipods (also caprellid amphipods, isopods and ostracods, tiny carid crustaceans, polychaetes and nematodes, and foraminifera). Mysid crustaceans are an important food source for juveniles.
Habitat:
Vanacampus phillipi commonly inhabits seagrass beds (including Halophila, Heterozostera, Posidonia, Ruppia, and Zostera) and macroalgae in shallow estuaries, coastal lagoons, and sheltered bays.
Similar species:
The Port Phillip sea needle is most similar to Vanacampus margaritifer, with overlap in meristic characteristics and geographic range.
Vanacampus phillipi differs from Vanacampus margaritifer in that it generally has a greater number of tail rings (38-46 versus 34-38), and adults lack the regular arrangement of bright spots on the proboscis rings found in Vanacampus phillipi; instead, larger adults have blue stripes on the sides.
In addition, Vanacampus phillipi tends to have a shorter snout and breeding males tend to carry fewer fertilized eggs (
The term "reef safe" is often used in marine aquaristics, especially when buying a new species people often ask if the new animal is "reef safe".
What exactly does reef safe mean?
To answer this question, you can ask target-oriented questions and inquire in forums, clubs, dealers and with aquarist friends:
- Are there already experiences and keeping reports that assure that the new animal can live in other suitably equipped aquariums without ever having caused problems?
- Is there any experience of invertebrates (crustaceans, hermits, mussels, snails) or corals being attacked by other inhabitants such as fish of the same or a different species?
- Is any information known or expected about a possible change in dietary habits, e.g., from a plant-based diet to a meat-based diet?
- Do the desired animals leave the reef structure "alone", do they constantly change it (boring starfish, digger gobies, parrotfish, triggerfish) and thus disturb or displace other co-inhabitants?
- do new animals tend to get diseases repeatedly and very quickly and can they be treated?
- Do known peaceful animals change their character in the course of their life and become aggressive?
- Can the death of a new animal possibly even lead to the death of the rest of the stock through poisoning (possible with some species of sea cucumbers)?
- Last but not least the keeper of the animals has to be included in the "reef safety", there are actively poisonous, passively poisonous animals, animals that have dangerous biting or stinging weapons, animals with extremely strong nettle poisons, these have to be (er)known and a plan of action should have been made in advance in case of an attack on the aquarist (e.g. telephone numbers of the poison control center, the treating doctor, the tropical institute etc.).
If all questions are evaluated positively in the sense of the animal(s) and the keeper, then one can assume a "reef safety".
Females have blue stripes on the upper side and along the tail, especially larger specimens.
The underside of the head of females usually has irregular dark spots or stripes, while in adult males it is pale.
In adult males, the lower half of the operculum and the underside of the head are usually pale.
The pipefish feeds during the day on small benthic crustaceans on the substrate, for example, calanoid copepods and gammarid amphipods (also caprellid amphipods, isopods and ostracods, tiny carid crustaceans, polychaetes and nematodes, and foraminifera). Mysid crustaceans are an important food source for juveniles.
Habitat:
Vanacampus phillipi commonly inhabits seagrass beds (including Halophila, Heterozostera, Posidonia, Ruppia, and Zostera) and macroalgae in shallow estuaries, coastal lagoons, and sheltered bays.
Similar species:
The Port Phillip sea needle is most similar to Vanacampus margaritifer, with overlap in meristic characteristics and geographic range.
Vanacampus phillipi differs from Vanacampus margaritifer in that it generally has a greater number of tail rings (38-46 versus 34-38), and adults lack the regular arrangement of bright spots on the proboscis rings found in Vanacampus phillipi; instead, larger adults have blue stripes on the sides.
In addition, Vanacampus phillipi tends to have a shorter snout and breeding males tend to carry fewer fertilized eggs (
The term "reef safe" is often used in marine aquaristics, especially when buying a new species people often ask if the new animal is "reef safe".
What exactly does reef safe mean?
To answer this question, you can ask target-oriented questions and inquire in forums, clubs, dealers and with aquarist friends:
- Are there already experiences and keeping reports that assure that the new animal can live in other suitably equipped aquariums without ever having caused problems?
- Is there any experience of invertebrates (crustaceans, hermits, mussels, snails) or corals being attacked by other inhabitants such as fish of the same or a different species?
- Is any information known or expected about a possible change in dietary habits, e.g., from a plant-based diet to a meat-based diet?
- Do the desired animals leave the reef structure "alone", do they constantly change it (boring starfish, digger gobies, parrotfish, triggerfish) and thus disturb or displace other co-inhabitants?
- do new animals tend to get diseases repeatedly and very quickly and can they be treated?
- Do known peaceful animals change their character in the course of their life and become aggressive?
- Can the death of a new animal possibly even lead to the death of the rest of the stock through poisoning (possible with some species of sea cucumbers)?
- Last but not least the keeper of the animals has to be included in the "reef safety", there are actively poisonous, passively poisonous animals, animals that have dangerous biting or stinging weapons, animals with extremely strong nettle poisons, these have to be (er)known and a plan of action should have been made in advance in case of an attack on the aquarist (e.g. telephone numbers of the poison control center, the treating doctor, the tropical institute etc.).
If all questions are evaluated positively in the sense of the animal(s) and the keeper, then one can assume a "reef safety".
