Scientific Name	Halicampus mataafae   Pronounce			by: Lab of Fish Ecol. and Evo., BRCAS
Author	(Jordan & Seale, 1906)	Depth	0 - 15M
Chinese	馬塔法海蠋魚	Poisonous Fish	No
Family_Chinese	海龍科	Economic Fish	No
Family	F295　Syngnathidae	Edible Fish	No	Chinese In Mainland China	褐海蠋魚
Max Length	12.8 cm	Aquarium Fish	Yes	Common Name	馬塔法海龍、海龍
Distribution in World	India Ocean to Pacific Ocean	Distribution in Taiwan	South、ShaoLiuChew
Habitats	Coral、Coastal	Holotype Locality	Coral reefs off Mulinu'u, Upolu Island, western Samoa [Samoa, South Pacific]
Synonyms	Corythoichthys mataafae, Corythroichthys mataafae, Halicampus grayi, Halicampus mataafe, Micrognathus mataafae, Micrognnathus brevirostris
Reference	臺灣魚類誌(沈等, 1993)；Fishbase(2005)；The Live Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific, Vol.4(FAO,1999)  Jordan, D. S. etc. 1906 沈世傑 編 Shih-Chieh Shen ed. 1993 Carpenter, K. E. etc. 1999
Specimen List	ASIZP0055212. ASIZP0068871. GCRL17195. GCRL21155. NTOUP200801-052. USNM00263237. USNM00263238.
Common Name	Samoan pipefish; Brown pipefish
Redlist Status	Not in IUCN Redlist
Characteristic	Body typically slender and elongate, without scales, encased in a series of bony rings. Snout short, its length 2.5-4.0 in HL. Superior trunk and tail ridges discontinuous, the trunk ridge sometimes arches dorsad on subdorsal rings; inferior trunk ridge ends at anal ring; lateral trunk ridge confluent with inferior tail ridge. Margins of superior trunk ridges without spines or serrations. Median dorsal snout ridge discontinuous, with 2-3 esmi-isolated spines or ridge-like crests; usually with two lateral spines on snout; dorsal rim of orbit not strongly elevated; opercle ridge incomplete in subadult-adult; scutella without longitudinal keels. Rings 15 + 34-36, darsal-fin rays 21-24, pectoral-fin rays 12-14. Mainly brownish, usually mottled with pale, often with indications of 9-11 narrow bars crossing the dorsum and side of body.
habitats	Collected from reef pool, rock, and coral habitats to a depth of over 15 m.
Distribution	Distributed in the Indo-Pacific from Red Sea and East Africa to Samoa, north to Taiwan, south to Queensland, Australia. It is found in southern Taiwanese waters, and Siao Liouciou, southwestern Taiwan.
Utility	No commercial value.