| Barbour's seahorse | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Syngnathiformes |
| Family: | Syngnathidae |
| Genus: | Hippocampus |
| Species: | H. barbouri |
| Binomial name | |
| Hippocampus barbouri D. S. Jordan & R. E. Richardson, 1908 | |
| Synonyms | |
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Barbour's seahorse (Hippocampus barbouri) is a species of fish of the family Syngnathidae. [2]
Hippocampus barbouri is found in seagrasses and shallow waters off the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. [3] Individuals have been recorded at a maximum depth of 10 metres (33 ft). The Barbour's Seahorse is native to Indonesia (Bali, Jawa, Kalimantan, Sulawesi), Malaysia (Sabah), and the Philippines. [3] Habitats include seagrass beds, mangrove swamps, estuaries, and muddy areas.
Records show a 30% decline in the H. barbouri population over the past 10 years, which has continued to increase due to over fishing and the destruction of seagrass habitats. Exact numbers are unknown but percentage estimates can be made using fishing records. H. barbouri is classified as Vulnerable by the 2017 IUCN red list assessments. They were first put on the Red list in 1996. Respondents at various levels of trade (including fishers, buyers, wholesalers, retailers, exporters and officials) in 1998 and 1999 in Malaysia reported declines in seahorse numbers and availability and that H. barbouri was one of the most common species traded. [4]
The Barbour's seahorse feeds on small shrimp, crustaceans, calanoid copepods and decapod larvae, but has also been known to ingest the larvae of polychaetes and fish.
Individuals have well developed spines such as their sharp eye, nose, and double cheek spine. The longest and broadest of the spines is its first dorsal spine. Its tail is relatively short in proportion to its body and has a series of long and short spines along it. They range in color from white to yellow to greenish gray to light brown, and some may have some reddish-brown spots or lines. The males usually grow to an average length of 11–15 centimetres (4.3–5.9 in) where females average at 11–13 centimetres (4.3–5.1 in). [5] It is often confused with the hedgehog seahorse, Hippocampus histrix.
This species is ovoviviparous, with males carrying eggs before giving birth to live young. The female deposits her eggs into the male's brood pouch. Through the pregnancy the pair strengthens their pair bonds with daily greetings. [6] The gestation period for H. barbouri is 12–14 days, with a typical brood size of about 10–240 offspring. They give no parental care to juveniles after birth. Pairs mate monogamously, and may mate many times in a single season.
Hippocampus barbouri are most vulnerable during the juvenile stage. They use crypsis as a mechanism for survival. The spiny texture of its skin and coloration allow it to camouflage itself among the corals they associate with.
These seahorses are widely traded for traditional medicines and aquarium trading. [3] This, along with the fact that their habitat it being destroyed, has caused their population size to continuously decrease.
The specific name honours the American zoologist and herpetologist Thomas Barbour 1884–1946. [7]
A seahorse is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus Hippocampus. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek hippókampos (ἱππόκαμπος), itself from híppos (ἵππος) meaning "horse" and kámpos (κάμπος) meaning "sea monster". Having a head and neck suggestive of a horse, seahorses also feature segmented bony armour, an upright posture and a curled prehensile tail. Along with the pipefishes and seadragons they form the family Syngnathidae.
Hippocampus bargibanti, also known as Bargibant's seahorse or the pygmy seahorse, is a seahorse of the family Syngnathidae found in the central Indo-Pacific area.
Hippocampus angustus, commonly known as the narrow-bellied seahorse, western Australian seahorse, or western spiny seahorse, is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is found in waters off of Australia, from Perth to Hervey Bay, and the southern portion of Papua New Guinea in the Torres Strait. It lives over soft-bottom substrates, adjacent to coral reefs, and on soft corals at depths of 3–63 metres (9.8–206.7 ft). It is expected to feed on small crustaceans, similar to other seahorses. This species is ovoviviparous, with males carrying eggs in a brood pouch before giving birth to live young. This type of seahorse is monogamous in its mating patterns. The males only fertilize one female's eggs for the mating season because of the population distribution. While some seahorses can be polygamous because they are denser in population, this type of seahorse is more sparsely distributed and the cost of reproduction is high. Therefore, the risk to reproduce due to predatory and distributary factors limits this breed to one mate, often finding the same mate season after season.
The knobby seahorse, also known as the short-headed seahorse or short-snouted seahorse, is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It inhabits coastal waters in southwestern and southeastern Australia, from Gregory to Bremer Bay, and from Denial Bay to Newcastle.
The giraffe seahorse is a species of fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is found in coastal waters off of the south and east coasts of Africa, from South Africa to Tanzania, and possibly north to Kenya. It lives in estuarine seagrass beds, algae beds, and shallow reefs to depths of 45 metres (148 ft), where it can grow to lengths of 10 centimetres (3.9 in). It is expected to feed on small crustaceans, similar to other seahorses. This species is ovoviviparous, with males carrying eggs in a brood pouch before giving birth to live young. Individuals are sexually mature at around 6.5 centimetres (2.6 in). Major threats to this species could be habitat loss, through coastal development and pollution, and overexploitation through bycatch. Some other threats include human use by drying out the seahorse for traditional medicine or as a curio.
The Knysna seahorse or Cape seahorse is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae. It is endemic to the south coast of South Africa, where it has been found in only three brackish water habitats: the estuary of the Keurbooms River in Plettenberg Bay, the Knysna Lagoon, and the estuarine portion of the Swartvlei system in Sedgefield. The limited range of this seahorse puts it at great risk of extinction.
Hippocampus coronatus, commonly known as the high-crowned seahorse or crowned seahorse, is a species of fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is endemic to the Pacific coastal waters of Japan, where it lives among Zostera seagrasses. It can grow to lengths of 10.8 centimetres (4.3 in), but is more commonly 6 centimetres (2.4 in). Individuals feed mainly on small crustaceans such as gammarid amphipods and copepods, although this can vary by size, with smaller individuals consuming copepods while larger individuals feed on amphipods and mysids. This species is ovoviviparous, with males brooding eggs in a brood pouch before giving birth to live young. Breeding season occurs from June to November, with females and males reaching sexual maturity at 6.9 centimetres (2.7 in) and 7.3 centimetres (2.9 in) respectively. Male brood size ranges from 12–46. The International trade in this species has been monitored through Appendix II of the CITES licensing system since 2004 and a minimum size of 10 centimetres (3.9 in) applies to traded specimens.
Hippocampus denise, also known as Denise's pygmy seahorse or the yellow pygmy seahorse, is a seahorse of the family Syngnathidae native to the western Pacific.
Hippocampus fisheri, commonly known as Fisher's seahorse, or the Hawaiian seahorse, is a species of fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is known from the Hawaiian Islands, although previous misidentifications indicated species occurrences in Australia and New Caledonia. Habitat preferences are unknown, but it has been found far away from shore and at depths greater than 100 metres (330 ft). Feeding habits are also unknown, but individuals are expected to feed on small crustaceans similar to other seahorses. Hippocampus fisheri is one out of the three species of Hippocampus genus found in the Hawaiian islands. They are also expected to be ovoviviparous, with males carrying eggs in a brood pouch before giving birth to live young. Individuals can grow to lengths of 8 centimetres (3.1 in). The specific name and the common name honour "Walter V. Fisher” of Stanford University. There was a Walter Kenrick Fisher who was Jordan and Evermann’s colleague at Stanford and the “V” is assumed to be a typo.
Hippocampus guttulatus, commonly known as the long-snouted seahorse and in Great Britain as the spiny seahorse, is a marine fish belonging to the family Syngnathidae, native from the northeast Atlantic, including the Mediterranean.
The great seahorse, also known as Kellogg's seahorse is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae. It is one of the largest of the 54 species of seahorse.
The Japanese seahorse or lemur-tail seahorse is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae. The Japanese seahorse reaches a maximum length of 8.0 cm, is usually dark brown and has a relatively long tail, a ridgelike coronet and flattened spines. Many seahorse species look similar, so in addition to any distinguishing features, individual specimens are identified using a series of specific measurements and counts of anatomical features such as spines and tail rings.
The hedgehog seahorse is a species of fish of the family Syngnathidae. It inhabits coastal waters from India and Sri Lanka to Taiwan and northern Australia. It is threatened by overfishing, as both targeted catch and bycatch. This species is ovoviviparous, with males carrying eggs in a brood pouch before giving birth to live young.
The flat-faced seahorse, longnose seahorse, low-crowned seahorse or three-spot seahorse is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae. It is found in Australia, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, French Polynesia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is shallow seas. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Hippocampus whitei, commonly known as White's seahorse, New Holland seahorse, or Sydney seahorse, is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is thought to be endemic to the Southwest Pacific, from Sydney, New South Wales and southern Queensland (Australia) to the Solomon Islands. It lives in shallow, inshore habitats, both natural and anthropogenic. This species is ovoviviparous, with males brooding eggs in a brood pouch before giving birth to live young.
The spiny seahorse, also referred to as the thorny seahorse, is a small marine fish in the family Syngnathidae, native to the Indo-Pacific area. It is classified as a Vulnerable species by the IUCN.
Amanda Vincent is a Canadian marine biologist and conservationist, one of the world's leading experts on seahorses and their relatives. She currently holds the chair of the IUCN SSC Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group and is the marine representative on the IUCN's International Red List Committee as well as being the chair of its Marine Conservation Committee. She previously held the Canada Research Chair in Marine Conservation at the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada from 2002 to 2012. Vincent co-founded and directs Project Seahorse, an interdisciplinary and international organisation committed to conservation and sustainable use of the world's coastal marine ecosystems. In 2020 she became the first marine conservationist to win the world's leading prize for animal conservation, the Indianapolis Prize.
Hippocampus waleananus, the Walea soft coral pygmy seahorse, was regarded as a synonym of Hippocampus satomiae, Lourie & Kuiter, 2008, however, some taxonomists suggested this name should be valid. The species was described in 2009 from a single specimen which was found close to the island Walea. This species is endemic to the Togian Islands in Indonesia, and is associated with specific soft corals.
Hippocampus debelius, commonly known as the softcoral seahorse, is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is known from only two specimens collected from the Gulf of Suez in the Red Sea, at depths of 15–30 metres (49–98 ft). Individuals were found associated with soft corals. Although little is known of this species, it is expected to feed on crustaceans, similar to other seahorses. It is also expected to be ovoviviparous, with males carrying eggs in a brood pouch before giving birth to live young.
The Patagonian seahorse is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It inhabits coastal waters from northeastern Brazil to Chubut, Argentina. It generally is found at shallow depths attached to natural or artificial substrates. This species is ovoviviparous, with males brooding eggs in a brood pouch before giving birth to live young.
