Figure 1.

Polyphyletic origin of grasping tails in syngnathids. Phylogenetic pattern towards the independent evolution from an ancestral tail possessing a tail fin (blue), towards a tail lacking a tail fin without grasping capacities in the seadragons Phycodurus eques and Phyllopteryx taeniolatus (yellow) and with grasping capacities in pipehorses (green) and seahorses (red). Solenostomus (black) belongs to a separate family of Solenostomidae, sister to Syngnathidae and is used as an outgroup. Cladogram based on Hamilton et al. (2009).