Blue Stripe Pipefish

The Blue Stripe Pipefish is one of the most commonly available and recognizable pipefish species in the marine aquarium trade. Its slender, rigid body displays striking blue and orange horizontal stripes running from snout to tail, with a bright red or orange flag-like caudal fin that it often waves conspicuously. At only 3 inches in length, it is among the smaller pipefish species, but its bold coloration and fascinating behavior more than compensate for its diminutive size.

In the wild, Doryrhamphus excisus is widespread across the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to Hawaii, inhabiting cave walls, overhangs, and crevices in coral reefs. It is notable for exhibiting cleaning behavior, setting up stations where larger fish visit to have parasites removed from their skin and gills. This mutualistic behavior adds an especially interesting dimension to its aquarium keeping, as it may occasionally attempt to clean larger tankmates. The species typically occurs in pairs that share a territory within cave systems.

Keeping Blue Stripe Pipefish successfully requires an understanding of their specialized dietary needs. Like all syngnathids, they are slow, deliberate feeders that cannot compete with fast-moving fish for food. They use their tubular snout to suck in tiny crustaceans one at a time, a feeding method that demands a constant supply of small live or frozen foods. A dedicated species tank or a very calm reef aquarium with non-competitive tankmates is essential. A well-established refugium producing copepods and amphipods greatly enhances long-term success with this species.