The redstripe pipefish (''Dunckerocampus baldwini'') is a fish from the genus

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 ...

. ''Dunckerocampus baldwini'' is found in caves, rocky crevices, and the seaward slopes of coral reefs and it is an active

cleaner A cleaner or a cleaning operative is a type of industrial or domestic worker who cleans homes or commercial premises for payment. Cleaning operatives may specialise in cleaning particular things or places, such as window cleaners. Cleaning op ...

which has been recorded cleaning small parasitic crustaceans on cave cardinal fish (''

Zapogon evermanni ''Zapogon evermanni'', Evermann's cardinalfish, is a species of cardinalfish native to tropical reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and the western Atlantic Ocean. It occurs deep in reef caves, where it swims along the ceilings upside ...

'') and a moray eel (''

Gymnothorax ''Gymnothorax'' is a genus of fish in the family Muraenidae found in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. With more than 120 species, it the most speciose genus of moray eels. Smith (2012) noted that ''Gymnothorax'' as currently recognized is p ...

sp.''). It has also been reported associating with iridescent cardinalfish (''

Pristiapogon kallopterus ''Pristiapogon'' is a genus of cardinalfishes native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Species The recognized species in this genus are:Mabuchi, K., Fraser, T.H., Song, H., Azuma, Y. & Nishida, M. (2014)Revision of the systematics of the cardin ...

'') and Hawaiian squirrelfish (''

Sargocentron xantherythrum ''Sargocentron xantherythrum'', commonly known as Hawaiian squirrelfish or striped squirrelfish, is a member of the squirrelfish family. It is known from the Hawaiian Islands and Johnston Atoll Johnston Atoll is an unincorporated territory ...

'') It is an

ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a term used as a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparous and live-bearing viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develop insi ...

species, in which the males brood fertilised eggs in a pouch beneath their trunk before giving live birth. The brood size can be as large as 200 embryos. They reach a maximum size of , and males begin brooding at . It has been recorded from Hawaii, and was thought to be endemic to that archipelago, it has since been recorded in West Papua and off

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

but which island this refers to is uncertain, as there is an island,

Kiritimati Kiritimati (also known as Christmas Island) is a Pacific Ocean atoll in the northern Line Islands. It is part of the Republic of Kiribati. The name is derived from the English word "Christmas" written in Gilbertese according to its phonology ...

, sometimes called Christmas Island in

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

, as well as one in the eastern Indian Ocean.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15694664 baldwini Fish of Hawaii redstripe pipefish