[4] The snake pipefish occurs in the north eastern Atlantic from Iceland and Norway to the Azores, into the Baltic Sea.

[8] The colonisation of the Waddensee sand flats by the invasive Japanese seaweed Sargassum muticum has facilitated an increase of snake pipefish in that area.

[2] They are ovoviviparous,[5] the female attaches over 1,000[1] fertilised eggs, each about 1.2 millimetres (0.047 in) in diameter,[3] to a layer of sticky mucus in a groove on the male's belly where they remain until they hatch.

[4] The adults feed on small crustaceans and larval fish[1] which are caught by being sucked into the mouth.

However, the pipefish have limited nutritional value compared to the oily-fleshed sand-eels and many chicks choked on their hard, rather indigestible bodies.