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Discovered in late 2006 and scientifically described the year after, the tiny pipehorse Kyonemichthys rumengani has become well known and sought after by divers. The genus name Kyonemichthys means ‘swollen thread fish’ in Greek and the species name of rumengani is after the guide, Noldy Rumengan who discovered the species in Lembeh Straits, Northern Sulawesi. It is, so far, only known from Sulawesi and was discovered at Walea in July 2008. It was first seen on the house reef and has since been found on several other sites around the resort.
K. rumengani is a type of pygmy pipehorse, which are closely related to the seahorses. Like their more famous cousins it is the male pipehorse that broods the eggs in a completely enclosed pouch. This enclosed pouch differentiates them from the pipefish that have an open brood pouch. The piphorses also have a prehensile tail, which allows them to hold onto small tufts of algae and hydroids on the reef. This species is so unique and distinct from the other pipehorses that it was assigned a new genus: Kyonemichthys.
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Found between 6 and 20 meters, K. rumengani usually live singly or in pairs but occasionally small groups of up to six individuals can be found in a given area. The single individual used as the specimen for the species’ scientific description measured only 2.7cm but they can reach slightly larger than this. They can be identified by their extremely small size, very slender body and three filaments located along the body. One of these filaments is found on the head and another mid-way between the head and central abdomen, these two filaments are quite short and bright red in colour. The final filament is located above the abdomen and is much longer than the other two; it is pale orange in colour.
