Common Seahorse

Meet the Common Seahorse, a fish that has a range extending throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans. However, even with a range that size these Seahorses are in trouble. Their population is on the decline due to habitat degradation and high levels of overfishing. They are one of the most popular Seahorses used for traditional medicines, and are captured in high amounts. As a result, the Common Seahorse is becoming rather uncommon, and they are listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN.

In the wild, the Common Seahorse lives at relatively shallow depths, often attaching their tails to coral or seaweed in order to keep to one place. They are also popular in aquariums, and many are now being captive bred to keep the wild populations sustainable.

Common Seahorses have a really interesting reproductive process. After courting, the mail and female move very close together so that the female can lay her eggs in the male's brood pouch. After all the eggs have been deposited the female leaves and it is all up to dad to incubate their offspring. After about a month it is time for the young Seahorses to hatch, and the father wiggles back and forth to get his young children out into the world. What an interesting process!

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IUCN Status : Vulnerable
Location : Indian and Pacific Oceans
Size : Length up to 14cm
Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Actinopterygii -- Order : Syngnathiformes
Family : Syngnathidae -- Genus : Hippocampus-- Species : H. kuda
Image : Nhobgood

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Big-belly Seahorse

Hippocampus abdominalis

The Seahorses that we see in aquariums are often very small fish, usually no more than a few inches long. The Big-belly Seahorse is a very different creature entirely!

This species, which is found in the shallow waters off of Australia and New Zealand, can grow to be 14in long! They are one of the largest Seahorse species on the planet.

Big-belly Seahorses get their common name from the large size of their abdomen. It protrudes on both males and females, though the males have an extra pouch for incubating the young. Yes, male Seahorses care for the babies! The female will lay her eggs in his pouch, and he will swim around with them until they hatch. He can carry hundreds of eggs at a time!

Big-belly Seahorses spend most of their time near seaweed, coiling their tails around the plants to stay in place. They feed by sucking in tiny crustaceans through their long snouts. They swallow their prey whole.

To keep from becoming prey themselves, the Big-belly Seahorses attempt to camouflage themselves in with the seaweed. They also have eyes that move independently from one another, so they can watch for danger.

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IUCN Status : Data Deficient
Location : Australia, New Zealand
Size : Body length up to 14in (35cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Actinopterygii -- Order : Syngnathiformes
Family : Syngnathidae -- Genus : Hippocampus -- Species : H. abdominalis

Image : Drow Male

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Bargibant's Seahorse

Hippocampus bargibanti

I got a request to talk about Pygmy Seahorses, but there are actually several species that fall under that common name, so today we'll talk about one in particular. All Pygmy Seahorses are relatively new to Science, and most were actually described for the first time only in the last ten years or so. The Bargibant's Seahorse is the species that we've known about the longest, and it was first discovered back in 1969.

Bargibant's Seahorse can be found in the coastal waters of Southeast Asia and Australia. They are very tiny, and seldom grow over 1in long. That, combined with their camouflaging bumps and colors, makes them very hard to spot on Corals that they live among (it's even difficult to tell exactly what you're looking at in that picture!). Bargibant's Seahorse is only known to live on Coral from the Muricella genus. They are so well hidden that the very first ones observed were not even spotted until after the Coral was collected and placed in an Aquarium!

Adults tend to live in small groups, and 28 of them were once observed on a single Gorgonian Coral. They feed on small little Crustaceans that also hang out near the Coral. Like most Seahorses, it is actually the male that incubates the eggs, stashing them away in a brood pouch. As many as 30 offspring can be born at once, and the young Seahorses are completely independent at birth.

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IUCN Status : Data Deficient
Location : Southeast Asia, Australia
Size : Length up to 1in

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Actinopterygii -- Order : Syngnathiformes
Family : Syngnathidae -- Genus : Hippocampus -- Species : H. bargibanti

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