Photos by Guido Zsilavecz	Flutemouths are related to pipefish, as both belong to the order Syngnathiformes. In South Africa there are only two recorded species of flutemouth, family Fistulariidae. This juvenile could be of either species: the smooth flutemouth, Fistularia commersonnii is uniform green or brownish dorsally, with a pair of blue or green lines and/or a row of blue spots - this is not visible in this juvenile. It occurs south up to Mossel Bay. The alternative is the serrate flutemouth, Fistularia petimba, which has a reddish to orange brown dorsal colour, silver ventrally, and is also known south to Mossel Bay, but also, and this is interesting, Walvis Bay. In "Seahorses, Pipefishes and their relatives" the distribution of F. petimba is given as "Widespread Indo-West Pacific and Atlantic seas in tropical to temperate regions". This specimen is thus most likely to be the latter. How this individual, seen by Guido Zsilavecz at Pyramid Rock, but seen by other divers elsewhere, came to Cape Town is a mystery, as it could either have come south from the Mossel Bay region with the Agulhas current, or somehow south from Walvis Bay. As there is a large stretch of mostly unexplored water between Walvis Bay and the nearest large South African town, it is possible that the distribution is much further south than anticipated. Its presence in Cape Town is not indicative of a range extension, as SURG is not aware of any regular sightings of flutemouth in the area. The flutemouth shown was photographed at Pyramid Rock, and was 20 cm long.
References: Smiths' Sea Fishes, MM Smith and PC Heemstra, 1986. Seahorses, Pipefishes and their relatives, RH Kuiter, 2000.
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