Bloodspot Pipefish
Corythoichthys haematopterus
- Usual depth1–12 m
- Water temperature24–30 °C
- Best monthsFebruary, March, and April
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
About this species
The messmate pipefish is a species of marine fish in the family Syngnathidae. It is widespread throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region, from the eastern coast of Africa to the Vanuatu Islands. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade where it is known as the dragonfaced pipefish. Other common names are bloodspot pipefish, reef pipefish, reeftop pipefish and yellow-streaked pipefish.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Messmate pipefish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 31 records
- February: 52 records
- March: 60 records
- April: 47 records
- May: 41 records
- June: 26 records
- July: 34 records
- August: 41 records
- September: 25 records
- October: 24 records
- November: 31 records
- December: 45 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1–12 m · Deepest record: 37.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C
Photos
(c) Zach Johnson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Daniel Benák, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Vsevolod Rudyi, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Emanuele Santarelli, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Bloodspot Pipefish, Dragon-faced Pipefsih, Messmate pipefish, Reef pipefish, Reeftop pipefish, Reef-top Pipefish, Yellow-streaked pipefish
Names in 4 more languages
- German
- Liegende Seenadel
- French
- Poisson-aiguille de récif, Syngnathe à réseaux
- Japanese
- Ishiyoji, Ishi-yôji, イシヨウジ
- Simplified Chinese
- 海龍, 紅鰭冠海龍, 紅鰭海龍, 红鳍冠海龙
Other scientific names: Corythoichthys hematopterus, Corythroichthys elerae, Corythroichthys isigakius, Ichthyocampus papuensis, Syngnathus crenulatus, Syngnathus fasciatus, Syngnathus haematopterus
Similar species
Banded PipefishCorythoichthys flavofasciatus
Banded pipefishCorythoichthys intestinalis
Many-spotted pipefishCorythoichthys polynotatus
Gilded pipefishCorythoichthys schultzi
Bluestripe pipefishDoryrhamphus excisus
Banded PipefishDunckerocampus dactyliophorus
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 450 open-data records from 1851 to 2018.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
Log what you see on your next dive
The free DiveHive diver app keeps your logbook with every sighting and shows what lives at the site you dive next.