The Worm Pipefish is a fish that has a smooth worm-looking body shaped like a thin pipe and this is why it has its name the ‘Worm Pipefish’. It is related to the Seahorse family and like the seahorse it has a long snout with a small upward-curved mouth. It can be found around most shores of England, especially in the south-west. It can also be found in rock pools hiding under stones or amongst seaweed.

The Worm Pipefish can grow up to fifteen centimetres long and is a dark brown or a dark green colour on top. The underpart is a paler brown or green. It has a fin on its back called a ‘dorsal’ fin and this fin helps the pipefish to move through water. The Worm Pipefish lives in seaweed beds or under boulders in rocky inshore waters and it could easily be mistaken for a brown strip of seaweed when it hides near rocks.

The male Worm Pipefish, like the male seahorse, looks after and protects the female’s eggs. The female Worm Pipefish transfers her eggs into a brood pouch on the male’s belly where they remain until the young have developed and hatched out.