This pipefish is very common in New South Wales from shallow depths to 30m in sand/mud substrates adjacent to channels, and north of Perth, Western Australia.

There are relic populations in upper Spencer Gulf, South Australia. These are warm water relics trapped when the water across Southern Australia cooled and species retreated to the warmer northern sections of estuaries and gulfs..

Quote from Rudie Kuiter (pers com. 2003) in respect to a search for fish including the Tiger Pipefish. "Other warm water relics include a goby Bathygobius kreffti, some allied cowries similar to Queensland species, and crabs, that fit in to the distribution pattern of Filicampus tigris and Hippocampus whitei. In the 1990's I came to Whyalla with Mark Norman to look for a Blue-ringed Octopus species that was reported from the area and is much like a Queensland species. We stayed of Pt Lowley, found lots of interesting things, including the cuttlefish spawning phenomenon, but I was on the lookout for Syngnathids. Surprisingly, up that far in the Gulf, not one pipefish in sight, even though habitat seems good. In the muddy channels it looked like H. whitei habitat and found some allied cowries on gorgonians that are endemic to the area, but closely related to Qld species."

The Tiger Pipefish, a sub-tropical species, occurs south on the east coast to Lakes Entrance VIC (37º59'S 142º43'E) and on the west coast to Busselton WA (33º36'S 115º18'E) of Australia, but until has only been recorded on the south coast of Australia in upper Spencer's Gulf SA. In South Australia until recently only three specimens (Shoalwater Point near Whyalla 1982; Pt Pirie; and in Spencer Gulf in a prawn catch 1970) were found prior to 1982.

No specimens of F. tigris were found in South Australia during: 1) extensive trawls around Pt Pirie by Ward 1982 from which numerous pipefish were vouchered at the South Australian Museum, and 2) during diving surveys by Kuiter 2003 (pers com) in 1984 at Chinaman Creek north of Port Pirie; and 3) during diving surveys by Kuiter 2003 (pers com) in the 1990's at Pt Lowley near Whyalla and on tyre reefs which provided ideal habitat.

The sampling effort and the period without sightings of 20 years suggested the species demise from pollution or trawling.

However, recently specimens have been found during Snapper trawl surveys by the South Australian Research and Development Institute (shown in top image).