Banded Pipefish

Dunckerocampus dactyliophorus

Fish
IUCN: Data deficient

Usual depth2–24 m
Water temperature23–30 °C
Best monthsApril, May, and September
How commonOccasional

All species

Photo credit: (c) Ditch Townsend, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

The banded pipefish or ringed pipefish is a species of fish in the Syngnathidae family.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Banded 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: 87 records
February: 63 records
March: 79 records
April: 105 records
May: 97 records
June: 57 records
July: 79 records
August: 65 records
September: 104 records
October: 72 records
November: 65 records
December: 73 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–24 m · Deepest record: 287 m

0–10 m: 61 records
10–20 m: 44 records
20–30 m: 17 records
30–40 m: 5 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C

22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 8 records
26–28 °C: 43 records
28–30 °C: 118 records

Photos

no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Ditch Townsend, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Gregor Bailar, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Banded Pipefish, Peixe-cachimbo listrado, Ringed pipefish

Names in 6 more languages

German: Gebänderte Seenadel
Spanish: Pez Pipa Bandeado
Filipino: Kabayokabayoh
French: Flûte rayé, Syngnathe annelé, Syngnathe zébré
Japanese: Oiran-yôji, オイランヨウジ
Simplified Chinese: 带纹矛吻海龙, 帶紋斑節海龍（黑環海龍）, 帶紋矛吻海龍, 斑節海龍, 斑节海龙, 海龍, 黑环海龙, 黑環海龍

Other scientific names: Acanthognathus caulleryi, Doryhamphus dactyliophorus, Doryramphus dactyliophorus, Doryrhamphus dactyliophorus, Syngnathus dactyliophorus

Similar species

Orange-banded Pipefish
Dunckerocampus pessuliferus
Banded Pipefish
Corythoichthys flavofasciatus
Bloodspot Pipefish
Corythoichthys haematopterus
Banded pipefish
Corythoichthys intestinalis
Bluestripe pipefish
Doryrhamphus excisus
Bargibant's Pygmy Seahorse
Hippocampus bargibanti

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).
404 open-data records from 1853 to 2024.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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