Maroubra perserrata
A rare 5cm pipefish logged in Western Australia, comfortable in 15-23.3C water and easy to swim past unnoticed.
A slender, stick-like pipefish topping out around 5 cm, easily mistaken for a piece of weedy debris until it moves. Look for the elongated snout typical of pipefish and a body that holds rigid and horizontal rather than curling like a seahorse's. Its small size and camouflage-brown tones mean divers usually spot it only on a slow, close look at rubble or weed patches rather than mid-water.
Divers who find this pipefish tend to spot it holding still against rubble or low weed rather than swimming openly, relying on its slim shape and dull colouring to blend in. Given how rarely it's logged, it's likely a species that stays low on the substrate and is easy to swim over without noticing, rewarding a slow, methodical search rather than a fast fin-by.
Like other pipefish, males of this genus are thought to carry fertilised eggs on their body rather than the female, though this hasn't been specifically documented for this species.
Sighting data doesn't show a clear season, and with a water-temperature niche spanning 15 to 23.3C, this species appears to tolerate a fairly wide seasonal range, so plan around local diving conditions rather than a specific month.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
Currently a rare find, logged from a single site in Western Australia, Australia, making it one of the harder syngnathids to tick off deliberately. There is not enough site spread yet to call it a regional specialty beyond that one Western Australian location.
Mapping where Sawtooth Pipefish is logged…
The only confirmed sightings so far come from a single site in Western Australia, Australia. It's not a species you can currently plan a dive trip around elsewhere.
There's no detected seasonal pattern in the sighting data, and it's been observed across a wide temperature range of 15 to 23.3C, so it appears to be a year-round possibility rather than a seasonal one.
Look for a thin, rigid-bodied pipefish around 5 cm long with an elongated snout and dull, camouflage colouring. It holds its body straight rather than coiling like a seahorse and tends to sit still against rubble or weed.
They're small, typically around 5 cm in length, which is part of why they're so easy to overlook on a reef or rubble patch.
Yes, current sighting data marks this species as rare even at the one site where it has been logged. It's considered a tough find for divers hoping to spot one.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Ornate Ghostpipefish
1,155 sites
