Festucalex erythraeus

{{Short description|Species of fish}}

{{For|other species known commonly as red pipefish|Red pipefish (disambiguation)}}

{{Speciesbox

| name = Red pipefish

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref =

| image = AmakusaYJred.jpg

| image_caption =

| taxon = Festucalex erythraeus

| authority = Gilbert, 1905

| synonyms = {{Species list|Hippichthys amakusensis|Tomiyama, 1972|Ichthyocampus erythraeus|Gilbert, 1905|Ichthyocampus philippinus|Fowler, 1938|Ichthyocampus townsendi|Duncker, 1915}}

| synonyms_ref=

}}

Festucalex erythraeus, known commonly as the red pipefish,{{cite web |url=https://fishbase.mnhn.fr/ComNames/CommonNameSummary.php?autoctr=65541 |title=Common name of Festucalex erythraeus |website=FishBase |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315111251/https://fishbase.mnhn.fr/ComNames/CommonNameSummary.php?autoctr=65541 |archive-date=15 March 2023 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://fishbase.mnhn.fr/ComNames/CommonNameSummary.php?autoctr=65540 |title=Common name of Festucalex erythraeus |website=FishBase |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315111416/https://fishbase.mnhn.fr/ComNames/CommonNameSummary.php?autoctr=65540 |archive-date=15 March 2023 |url-status=live}} is a species of marine pipefish of the family Syngnathidae. It is found throughout the Indo-Pacific, from Mozambique and South Africa to Hawaii, Honshu (Japan), and New Caledonia.{{cite journal | author1 = Manning, C. | author2 = Pollom, R. | name-list-style = amp | year = 2017 | title = Festucalex erythraeus | journal = The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species | volume = 2017 | page = e.T65367204A67624718 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T65367204A67624718.en | doi-access = free }} It lives among rubble and coral or rocky reefs at depths of {{convert|18-40|m|ft}}, where they can grow to lengths of {{convert|10|cm|in}}.{{cite book | author = Dawson, C.E. | year = 1985 | title = Indo-Pacific pipefishes (Red Sea to the Americas) | publisher = The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory Ocean Springs, Mississippi, USA}} They are expected to feed on small crustaceans, such as gammarid shrimps, mysids, and harpacticoid copepods. This species is ovoviviparous, with males brooding eggs and giving birth to live young. Males may brood at lengths of around {{convert|5.5|cm|in}}. It is exported from Hawaii as part of the aquarium trade.

Festucalex amakusensis and Festucalex townsendi which some authorities consider to be synonyms of F. erythraeus are considered by other authorities to be valid species.{{FishBase|Festucalex|erythraeus|month=February|year=2018}}