
Ocellated pipefish
Corythoichthys ocellatus
- Usual depth3–30 m
- Water temperature26–30 °C
- Best monthsMarch, May, and November
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Corythoichthys ocellatus, the ocellated pipefish or orange-spotted pipefish, is a marine pipefish found in the western Pacific Ocean. Belonging to the family Syngnathidae, it grows up to 10 cm long, and is found in the first 12 m of the warm tropical seas off the coast of Australia. Ovoviviparous, the male carries the eggs in a brood pouch found under the tail.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Corythoichthys ocellatus”, 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: 10 records
- February: 2 records
- March: 15 records
- April: 12 records
- May: 15 records
- June: 7 records
- July: 11 records
- August: 5 records
- September: 13 records
- October: 14 records
- November: 17 records
- December: 14 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 3–30 m · Deepest record: 32.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 26–30 °C
Photos

(c) Kai Squires, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Kai Squires, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Micha Baum, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Ocellated pipefish, Ocellate Pipefish, Orange-spotted pipefish
Names in 1 more languages
- Simplified Chinese
- 晴斑冠海龍, 晴斑冠海龙
Similar species
Banded PipefishCorythoichthys flavofasciatus
Bloodspot PipefishCorythoichthys haematopterus
Banded pipefishCorythoichthys intestinalis
Brown-banded PipefishCorythoichthys amplexus
Benedetto's PipefishCorythoichthys benedetto
Reticulated PipefishCorythoichthys conspicillatus
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).
- 60 open-data records from 1929 to 2010.
- Species data updated November 1, 2026.
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