'' Doryrhamphus'' and ''

Dunckerocampus ''Dunckerocampus'' is a genus of pipefishes one of two genera known as the flagtail pipefishes. This genus is native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans where they are usually found in reef environments. These species are elongated and have a ma ...

'', popularly known as flagtail pipefish,Weiss, T. (2005).
Flagtail Pipefish In The Home Aquarium.
'' Fusedjaw are two genera of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...

es in the family

Syngnathidae The Syngnathidae is a family of fish which includes seahorses, pipefishes, and seadragons ('' Phycodurus'' and '' Phyllopteryx''). The name is derived from grc, σύν (), meaning "together", and (), meaning "jaw". The fused jaw is one of the ...

. They are found in warm, relatively shallow waters of the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

, with a single species, ''D. paulus'', in the eastern

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. Kuiter, R. H. (2003). ''Seahorses, Pipefishes, and their relatives.'' 2nd edition. TMC Publishing. Chorleywood. Most of these

pipefish Pipefishes or pipe-fishes (Syngnathinae) are a subfamily of small fishes, which, together with the seahorses and seadragons ('' Phycodurus'' and '' Phyllopteryx''), form the family Syngnathidae. Description Pipefish look like straight-bodied se ...

es are very colourful, and are fairly popular in the marine aquarium hobby despite requiring special care and not being recommended for beginners.Schultz III, H. C. (2003).
There's More to Pipes Than Just PVC: The Genus Doryrhamphus and Other Pipefish.
' Reefkeeping Their habit of flashing the distinctly patterned tails during courtship and other displays have earned them their English popular name. Adults are highly

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

and usually live in pairs. They feed on tiny

crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gr ...

and other small animals, and most species from the genus ''Doryrhamphus'' will sometimes act as cleaners.

Description

''Doryrhamphus'' have a maximum length of or less, with ''D. janssi'' being the only species that surpasses .Kuiter R. H., & H. Debelius (2007). ''World Atlas of Marine Fishes.'' 2nd edition. IKAN Unterwasserarchiv. . Most species have a horizontal blue line along their body, and all have a whitish-edged tail that is marked contrastingly with black, red or yellow. ''Dunckerocampus'' are more elongated and have a maximum length between , with ''D. chapmani'' being the only species with a maximum length below . Their tail is red with a whitish edge, and in some species there is a white or yellow spot in the center. All except ''D. baldwini'' (and a similar, but possibly undescribed species from the eastern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

) have vertical red/brown and yellow/white stripes on their body.

Taxonomy

Considerable taxonomic confusion exists in these genera, both because a number of scientifically undescribed species remain and some of the already described species are variable.Kuiter, R. H. (2009). ''Seahorses and their relatives.'' Aquatic Photographics, Seaford, Australia. The first to recognise the species now placed in ''Dunckerocampus'' as worthy of a separate genus was the German

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of October ...

George Duncker, and for this reason he coined ''Acanthognathus'' in 1912. However, unbeknown to him that name was

preoccupied The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linn ...

by a genus of ants.Ride, W.D.L, H.G. Cogger, C. Dupuis, O. Kraus, A. Minelli, F. C. Thompson & P.K. Tubbs, eds. (1999). ''International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.'' 4th edition. International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature. The replacement name ''Dunckerocampus'' honours Duncker. Following a review in 1985, ''Dunckerocampus'' was generally considered a subgenus of ''Doryrhamphus'',Dawson, C. E. (1985). ''Indo-Pacific pipefishes (Red Sea to the Americas).'' Gulf Coast Research Lab., Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Indo-Pacific pipefishes (Red Sea to the Americas). i-vi + 1-230. but in 1998 it was recommended that ''Dunckerocampus'' again should be a genus, and in addition to the species formerly placed in it, it should include the newly described ''D. boylei''.Kuiter, R. H. (1998). ''Pipefishes of the syngnathid genus Dunckerocampus (Sygnathiformes: Syngnathidae), with a description of a new species from the Indian Ocean.'' Aqua, Journal of Ichthyology and Aquatic Biology 3(2): 81-84. When described in 2004, ''D. naia'' was also placed in this genus.Allen, G. R., & R. H. Kuiter. (2004). ''Dunckerocampus naia, a new species of pipefish (Pisces: Syngnathidae) from the western Pacific.'' Aqua, Journal of Ichthyology and Aquatic Biology 9(1): 1-6. Recent authorities generally recognise ''Doryrhamphus'' and ''Dunckerocampus'' as separate genera.Eschmeyer, W.N., & R. Fricke, eds. (2012).
Catalog of Fishes.
'' Online version, 19 September 2012.

Species

Species and genera follow most recent reviews of this group. * Genus '' Doryrhamphus'': ** '' Doryrhamphus aurolineatus'' Randall & Earle, 1994 ** Narrowstripe pipefish, '' Doryrhamphus bicarinatus'' Dawson, 1981 ** Bluestripe pipefish, '' Doryrhamphus excisus'' Kaup, 1856 ** Janss' pipefish, ''Doryrhamphus janssi'' (Herald & Randall, 1972) ** Honshu pipefish, '' Doryrhamphus japonicus'' Araga & Yoshino, 1975 ** Masthead Island pipefish, ''

Doryrhamphus malus ''Doryrhamphus'' is a genus of pipefishes, one of the two genera colloquially known as flagtail pipefishes and are popular in the aquarium trade. The members of this genus are native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans where they inhabit reef env ...

'' (Whitley, 1954) – treated as a species by some authorities, and a subspecies of ''D. negrosensis'' by others. **

Barhead pipefish Barhead may refer to: * Barhead, Ontario, a place in Canada * Barhead spinefoot, or ''Siganus virgatus'', a fish * Barhead pipefish, a fish of genus ''Microphis'' See also * Bar-headed goose The bar-headed goose (''Anser indicus'') is a goos ...

, '' Doryrhamphus melanopleura'' (Bleeker 1858) – treated as a species by some authorities, and included in ''D. excisus'' by others. **

Negros pipefish ''Doryrhamphus negrosensis'', commonly known as Negros pipefish, flagtail pipefish, Masthead Island pipefish or Queensland flagtail pipefish, is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is found in the Western Pacific Ocean, from B ...

, '' Doryrhamphus negrosensis'' Herre, 1934 ** ''

Doryrhamphus paulus ''Doryrhamphus'' is a genus of pipefishes, one of the two genera colloquially known as flagtail pipefishes and are popular in the aquarium trade. The members of this genus are native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans where they inhabit reef ...

'' Fritzsche, 1980 – treated as a species by some authorities, and a subspecies of ''D. excisus'' by others. * Genus ''Dunckerocampus'': ** Redstripe pipefish, ''

Dunckerocampus baldwini The redstripe pipefish (''Dunckerocampus baldwini'') is a fish from the genus Dunckerocampus. ''Dunckerocampus baldwini'' is found in caves, rocky crevices, and the seaward slopes of coral reefs and it is an active cleaner which has been record ...

'' (Herald & Randall, 1972) ** Broad-banded Pipefish, ''

Dunckerocampus boylei ''Dunckerocampus boylei'' (broad-banded pipefish) is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is found in the Red Sea, Mauritius, and Indonesia, but it is thought to be widespread throughout the Indian Ocean. It lives in coastal ...

'' Kuiter, 1998 **

Glowtail pipefish ''Dunckerocampus chapmani'' (glowtail pipefish, or New Caledonian pipefish) is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is endemic to New Caledonia, where it inhabits shallow lagoons to depths of (although more commonly found at ) ...

, ''

Dunckerocampus chapmani ''Dunckerocampus chapmani'' (glowtail pipefish, or New Caledonian pipefish) is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is endemic to New Caledonia, where it inhabits shallow lagoons to depths of (although more commonly found at ...

'' Herald, 1953 ** Ringed pipefish, ''Dunckerocampus dactyliophorus'' (Bleeker, 1853) **

Many-banded pipefish ''Dunckerocampus multiannulatus'' (many-banded pipefish) is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is widespread in the Indian Ocean, from the Red Sea and South Africa to the Andaman Islands and Sumatra, Indonesia. It inhabits c ...

, ''

Dunckerocampus multiannulatus ''Dunckerocampus multiannulatus'' (many-banded pipefish) is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is widespread in the Indian Ocean, from the Red Sea and South Africa to the Andaman Islands and Sumatra Sumatra is one of ...

'' (Regan, 1903) ** ''

Dunckerocampus naia ''Dunckerocampus naia'' (Naia pipefish) is thought to be a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae, although further taxonomic study is needed to determine if the classification is valid or if this species is synonymous with ''D. dacty ...

'' Allen & Kuiter, 2004 **

Yellowbanded pipefish ''Dunckerocampus pessuliferus'' (yellowbanded pipefish), occasionally ''Doryrhamphus pessuliferus'', is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is a coastal species, inhabiting waters around the Coral Triangle, including the Phi ...

, ''

Dunckerocampus pessuliferus ''Dunckerocampus pessuliferus'' (yellowbanded pipefish), occasionally ''Doryrhamphus pessuliferus'', is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is a coastal species, inhabiting waters around the Coral Triangle, including the Phi ...

'' Fowler, 1938

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q499149 Syngnathidae Fish common names Taxonomy articles created by Polbot