A banded pipefish of east coast sand and rubble, lying flat on open ground rather than in weed.
Between about 30 and 35 cm depending on the source. Greenish-brown with ten to twelve dark bluish bands across the back and sides, silvery-blue spots, and diagonal dark bars on the head. Juveniles carry fleshy appendages on the head and body that are lost as they grow.
The bold bands across the trunk and the blue bars on the head separate it from the other large Australian pipefish, as does the male’s brood patch, which sits under the trunk rather than under the tail.
It lives on mud, sand, rubble, rock, sponge and shallow seagrass between about 2 and 30 m, and it feeds on gatherings of mysid shrimp in sheltered bays beside tidal channels. Pairs are monogamous and hold a home range without defending an exclusive territory. Breeding is in summer.
It is an Australian endemic, found on the subtropical east coast, on the west coast, and in an isolated population in Spencer Gulf.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.