Scientific Name	Doryrhamphus japonicus   Pronounce			by: Lab of Fish Ecol. and Evo., BRCAS
Author	Araga & Yoshino, 1975	Depth	0 - 25M
Chinese	日本矛吻海龍	Poisonous Fish	No
Family_Chinese	海龍科	Economic Fish	No
Family	F295　Syngnathidae	Edible Fish	No	Chinese In Mainland China	日本矛吻海龍
Max Length	8 cm	Aquarium Fish	Yes	Common Name	日本海龍、海龍
Distribution in World	North West Pacific Ocean	Distribution in Taiwan	South、Greeb IS.
Habitats	Coral、Coastal	Holotype Locality	Rocky reefs near the mouth of Tanabe Bay, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan
Synonyms	Doryrhamphus melanopleura japonica
Reference	臺灣魚類誌(沈等, 1993)；Fishes of Japan(Nakabo, 2002)；Fishbase(2005)；The Live Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific, Vol.4(FAO,1999)  沈世傑 編 Shih-Chieh Shen ed. 1993 Carpenter, K. E. etc. 1999 Nakabo T. 2002
Specimen List	ASIZP0056242. ASIZP0066992. NMMBP03124. NMMBP05649. NMMSTP00684. NTUM03811.
Common Name	Pipefish
Redlist Status	Not in IUCN Redlist
Characteristic	Body typically slender and elongate, without scales, encased in a series of bony rings. Snout with 1-5 dorsolateral rows of spines on each side median dorsal ridge, pouch flods present in adult males. Superior trunk and tail ridges discontinuous; inferior trunk ridge ends on anal ring; lateral trunk ridge confluent with inferior tail ridge. Median dorsal snout ridge low to moderately elevated, entired; opercle usually with a complete longitudinal ridge; scutella without longitudinal keels; without dermal flaps. Principal body ridges with one spine on eacg side. Males without one bony ventrolateral projection on the snout. Rings 19-20 + 14-15, darsal-fin rays 21-23, pectoral-fin rays 19-23. Side of trunk with a narrow dark stripe below the superior ridge.
habitats	Inhabits small caves in sublittoral rocky reefs. Reported from tide pools to depths of at least 25 m offshore, but mostly seen in shallow depths. Often in pairs. Spawns from the end of May to September. An active cleaner that shares crevices with shrimps,
Distribution	Distributed in the northwest Pacific including Japan and Taiwan. It is found in sourthern Taiwanese waters; and Lyudao, southeastern Taiwan.
Utility	No commercial value.