Doryrhamphus and Dunckerocampus, popularly known as flagtail pipefish, are two genera of fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate 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...

es in the Syngnathidae

Syngnathidae

Syngnathidae is a family of fish which includes the seahorses, the pipefishes, and the weedy and leafy sea dragons. The name is derived from Greek, meaning "fused jaw" - syn meaning fused or together, and gnathus meaning jaws. This fused jaw trait is something the entire family has in common...

 family. They are found in warm, relatively shallow waters of the Indo-Pacific

Indo-Pacific

The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia...

, with a single species, D. paulus, in the eastern Pacific. Most of these pipefish

Pipefish

Pipefishes or pipe-fishes are a subfamily of small fishes, which, together with the seahorses, form the family Syngnathidae.-Anatomy:...

es are very colourful, and are fairly popular in the marine aquarium

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

 hobby despite requiring special care and not being recommended for beginners.

Their habit of flashing the distinctly patterned tails during courtship and other displays have earned them their English popular name. Adults are highly territorial

Territory (animal)

In ethology the term territory refers to any sociographical area that an animal of a particular species consistently defends against conspecifics...

 and usually live in pairs. They feed on tiny crustaceans and other small animals, and most species from the genus Doryrhamphus will sometimes act as cleaners

Cleaner fish

Cleaner fish are fish that provide a service to other fish species by removing dead skin and ectoparasites. This is an example of mutualism, an ecological interaction that benefits both parties involved. A wide variety of fishes have been observed to display cleaning behaviors including wrasses,...

.

Description

Doryrhamphus have a maximum length of 14 centimetres (5.5 in) or less, with D. janssi being the only species that surpasses 8.5 centimetres (3.3 in). 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 10 and 20 cm (3.9 and 7.9 in), with D. chapmani being the only species with a maximum length below 15 centimetres (5.9 in). 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

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

) 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.

The first to recognise the species now placed in Dunckerocampus as worthy of a separate genus was the German ichthyologist George Duncker, and for this reason he coined Acanthognathus in 1912. However, unbeknown to him that name was preoccupied by a genus of ants

Acanthognathus

Acanthognathus is a genus of ants that are found in tropical Central and South America. They are reddish in colour and have long trap-jaws that can be compared to those of Odontomachus. These predatory ants live in small colonies that typically consist of less than 30 adults.Mistakenly, the name...

. The replacement name Dunckerocampus honours Duncker.

Following a review in 1985, Dunckerocampus was generally considered a subgenus of Doryrhamphus, 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. When described in 2004, D. naia was also placed in this genus. FishBase

FishBase

FishBase is a comprehensive database of information about fish species . It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web...

 do recognise Dunckerocampus, but only for the two species recently described in that genus, while they have not moved other species that belong in this genus (including its type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

, D. dactyliophorus), which instead are retained in Doryrhamphus (this treatment is impossible, as it would result in Dunckerocampus being a junior synonym of Doryrhamphus).

Species

Species and genera follow most recent reviews of this group. Species marked with a star* after the scientific name are placed in Doryrhamphus rather than Dunckerocampus by FishBase.

• Genus Doryrhamphus:
  • Doryrhamphus aurolineatus Randall & Earle, 1994
  • Narrowstripe pipefish, Doryrhamphus bicarinatus Dawson, 1981
  • Bluestripe pipefish, Doryrhamphus excisus Kaup, 1856
  • Janss' pipefish
    Doryrhamphus janssi
    The Janss' pipefish is a flagtail pipefish from the Western Central Pacific. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade.-Description:...
    
    , Doryrhamphus janssi (Herald & Randall, 1972)
  • Honshu pipefish, Doryrhamphus japonicus Araga & Yoshino, 1975
  • Masthead Island pipefish, Doryrhamphus malus (Whitley, 1954)
  • Barhead pipefish, Doryrhamphus melanopleura (Bleeker 1858)
  • Negros pipefish, Doryrhamphus negrosensis Herre, 1934
  • Doryrhamphus paulus Fritzsche, 1980

• Genus Dunckerocampus:
  • Redstripe pipefish, Dunckerocampus baldwini* (Herald & Randall, 1972)
  • Broad-banded Pipefish, Dunckerocampus boylei Kuiter, 1998
  • Glowtail pipefish, Dunckerocampus chapmani* Herald, 1953
  • Ringed pipefish
    Banded pipefish
    The banded pipefish or ringed pipefish is a species of fish in the Syngnathidae family. It inhabits tide pools, lagoons, and outer reef slopes in tropical climates...
    
    , Dunckerocampus dactyliophorus* (Bleeker, 1853)
  • Many-banded pipefish, Dunckerocampus multiannulatus* (Regan, 1903)
  • Dunckerocampus naia Allen & Kuiter, 2004
  • Yellowbanded pipefish, Dunckerocampus pessuliferus* Fowler, 1938