Dunckerocampus pessuliferus

{{Short description|Species of fish}}

{{Speciesbox

| name = Yellowbanded pipefish

| image = Dunckerocampus pessuliferus.jpg

| image_caption =

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref =

| taxon = Dunckerocampus pessuliferus

| authority = Fowler, 1938

| synonyms = Doryrhamphus pessuliferus (Fowler, 1938)

}}

Dunckerocampus pessuliferus (yellowbanded pipefish), occasionally Doryrhamphus pessuliferus, is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is a coastal species, inhabiting waters around the Coral Triangle, including the Philippines, Indonesia, and northwestern Australia.{{cite iucn | author = Pollom, R. | year = 2016 | title = Dunckerocampus pessuliferus |errata=2017 | volume = 2016 | page = e.T65367059A115421785 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T65367059A67624145.en }} It lives in coral patches on sandy and muddy slopes at depths of {{convert|15-44|m|ft}}, where it can grow to lengths of {{convert|16|cm|in}}.Dawson, C.E., 1985. Indo-Pacific pipefishes (Red Sea to the Americas). The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory Ocean Springs, Mississippi, USA It is an active cleaner, feeding off of parasitic crustaceans growing on other fishes. The adult fish form pairs and are normally observed swimming along the bottom around large remote coral heads on muddy slopes.{{FishBase|Dunckerocampus|pessuliferus|month=February|year=2018}} This species is ovoviviparous, with males carrying eggs and giving birth to live young.

It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade, but is protected in Australia under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.{{cite web|last1=Thompson|first1=Vanessa|last2=Bray|first2=Dianne|title=Yellowbanded Pipefish, Doryrhamphus pessuliferus|url=http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/3180|website=Fishes of Australia|accessdate=29 September 2014}}