Red Pipefish

Notiocampus ruber has an elongate, vermiform body and is typically uniformly red in colouration, though some individuals display distinct colouration markings on the head and snout, as well as scattered white speckling on the body. Whether these features are sex-specific is unknown. The species lacks pectoral fins entirely and has low, entire body ridges, in contrast to the prominent spiny body ridges of several related pipefish genera. Unlike the northeastern Atlantic genera Nerophis and Entelurus, which it otherwise resembles, Notiocampus retains a caudal fin and possesses a dorsal fin originating on the tail rather than on the trunk.

Notiocampus ruber has a broad but sparsely recorded distribution across temperate southern Australia, ranging from New South Wales to Western Australia and including Tasmania. Records are primarily from reef crevices and hard substrates at depths of 5 to 20 m (16 to 66 ft). Observations from Gamay (Botany Bay), New South Wales, between 2017 and 2021 documented individuals at approximately 12 m (39 ft) depth in mixed habitats comprising sand substrates and low-relief hard structures, frequently among feathery red macroalgae. The first known photograph of a living specimen was taken on the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia, in 2007–2008. Individuals are typically observed alone or in pairs, though aggregations of multiple individuals have been recorded. At least one individual exhibited short-term site fidelity, being repeatedly observed at the same location over a six-month period.

Notiocampus ruber is a trunk-brooding pipefish, with photographic evidence of a brooding male carrying eggs attached directly to the ventral trunk surface anterior to the anus first published in 2026. The brooding configuration is believed to comprise at least two parallel rows of relatively large, exposed eggs adhered directly to the ventral integument without enclosing folds. This simple trunk-brooding morphology corresponds to that described for the northeastern Atlantic genera Nerophis and Entelurus.