Blue Stripe Pipefish

Blue Striped Pipefish: The Elongate Reef Specialist

The Blue Striped Pipefish (Doryrhamphus dactyliophorus) is a highly distinctive and elegant member of the Syngnathidae family, which includes seahorses. This species is better known by the trade names Banded Pipefish or Ringed Pipefish due to its dramatic coloration: a long, slender body with striking alternating red/black and white/yellow bands, and a highly visible, fan-like red caudal (tail) fin. It is a specialist fish requiring dedicated care and is recommended for expert aquarists only.

Hailing from the Indo-Pacific, this fish is a slow-moving, constant forager that lives among the rocks, caves, and crevices of shallow reef slopes and lagoons. Its natural hunting behavior—plucking tiny live zooplankton from the water column—translates to extremely challenging feeding requirements in the home aquarium.

The Blue Striped Pipefish can reach an adult length of 7 to 8 inches (18–19 cm). Due to their need for stable conditions, gentle water flow, and a continuous food source, they thrive in a specialized environment, typically a mature reef tank of 50+ gallons that includes a well-established refugium.

Diet & Compatibility:

• Diet: This fish is a dedicated Carnivore with a tiny, tubular mouth, limiting its prey to very small organisms. Its diet must consist primarily of live copepods and amphipods. The long-term survival of this species depends heavily on a constant, self-sustaining population of microfauna within the display tank and/or a connected refugium.
• Feeding: While captive-bred specimens are sometimes weaned onto small frozen foods (e.g., enriched Mysis shrimp, Cyclop-eeze), feeding must be done multiple times daily via target feeding to ensure they receive adequate nutrition before faster fish can consume the food. Live food is often necessary, especially when first introduced.
• Water Flow & Habitat: They are poor swimmers and require low, gentle water flow and a habitat rich in shadowy caves, rocky overhangs, and macroalgae for hiding and hunting. High-flow environments stress them greatly.
• Reef Compatibility: It is Completely Reef Safe. It will not harm corals or ornamental invertebrates. However, tankmates must be selected with extreme caution. Avoid all anemones or corals with stinging tentacles that could injure the pipefish.
• Temperament: It is Peaceful / Specialist. It is highly social and best kept in mated pairs or small groups of its own kind. Suitable tankmates must be non-aggressive, slow-moving species that will not compete for food, such as seahorses, firefish, and small, docile gobies.

Quick Facts

• Scientific Name: Doryrhamphus dactyliophorus (Syn. Dunckerocampus dactyliophorus )
• Primary Common Name: Blue Striped Pipefish
• Other Common Names: Banded Pipefish, Ringed Pipefish, Zebra Pipefish
• Origin: Indo-Pacific
• Max Size: 7–8 inches (18–19 cm)
• Temperament: Peaceful / Specialist (Requires non-competitive tankmates)
• Diet: Carnivore (Must have continuous supply of live zooplankton/copepods)
• Minimum Tank Size: 50+ Gallons (Stable, established tank with refugium)
• Reef Compatibility: Safe (Requires protection from stinging inverts and predators)