The Vanacampus spp. genera currently comprises four species, Mother-of-Pearl pipefish V. margaritifer, Verco's pipefish / Flinder's pipefish V. vercoi, Long-snout pipefish V. poecilolaemus, and the Pt. Phillip pipefish V. phillipi,  Verco's pipefish / Flinder's pipefish has 16 trunk rings in contrast to the 17-20 trunk rings of the other species. However, there is a considerable ambiguity in the discriminating meristics (counts of characteristics) of the Vanacampus species, and there are possibly a number of novel taxon in the group.

Range: Across southern Australia an north to southern Queensland.  Inhabits rubble and reefs in estuaries and harbours frequently where they occur on muddy substrates.  From low tide to 10 meters. Maximum length between 16 mm and 20 mm.  Appears to grow larger in cooler waters.

Reproduction:

Mother-of-Pearl pipefish V. margaritifer: n=1, Egg number 160, Male length 167 mm. Eggs in four rows.

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