[2] Most of these pipefishes are very colourful, and are fairly popular in the marine aquarium hobby despite requiring special care and not being recommended for beginners.

[1][3] They feed on tiny crustaceans and other small animals, and most species from the genus Doryrhamphus will sometimes act as cleaners.

[2][4] Most species have a horizontal blue line along their body, and all have a whitish-edged tail that is marked contrastingly with black, red or yellow.

[2][4] All except D. baldwini (and a similar, but possibly undescribed species from the eastern Indian Ocean) have vertical red/brown and yellow/white stripes on their body.

[2][5] The first to recognise the species now placed in Dunckerocampus as worthy of a separate genus was the German ichthyologist George Duncker, and for this reason he coined Acanthognathus in 1912.