Yellowbanded Pipefish

Care at a glance

Overview

Pairs hold a small territory and will pick parasites from larger fish, but in the aquarium they need several small feeds of mysis and enriched brine every day. House them with calm tankmates that will not outpace them at feeding time, and keep them away from stinging corals and anemones.

In the wild

Unlike its cave-dwelling relatives, this pipefish prefers sand and mud slopes in the western Pacific, often paired up around an isolated coral head in deeper, calmer water. Divers usually find it close to the bottom, well below the busy reef crest.

Good to know

It is easily mistaken for the banded pipefish, Dunckerocampus dactyliophorus, but the dark rings on this species are set against yellow to orange rather than white. As in the rest of the genus, the male broods the eggs in the open under his trunk instead of inside a sealed pouch.

Did you know

Captive-bred yellowbanded pipefish are now produced by hatcheries in Europe and the United States, and a settled pair will often spawn at home, the male cruising around with a neat ribbon of eggs glued under his body.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Banded pipefish

  Dunckerocampus dactyliophorus

  Saltwater

  7.5 in (19 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)
• Janss' Pipefish

  Doryrhamphus janssi

  Saltwater

  5.5 in (14 cm)50 gal (190 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Shortfin Pipefish

  Cosmocampus elucens

  Saltwater

  5.9 in (15 cm)20 gal (76 L)68–75°F (20–24°C)

• 

  Gulf Pipefish

  Syngnathus scovelli

  Saltwater

  7.1 in (18 cm)20 gal (76 L)68–75°F (20–24°C)

• 

  Narrowstripe Pipefish

  Doryrhamphus bicarinatus

  Saltwater

  3.1 in (8 cm)30 gal (114 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  White's Seahorse

  Hippocampus whitei

  Saltwater

  6.3 in (16 cm)30 gal (114 L)68–75°F (20–24°C)