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" or "sea animal". 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.
The leafy seadragon or Glauert's seadragon, is the only member of the genus Phycodurus and is a marine fish in the family Syngnathidae, which includes seadragons, pipefish, and seahorses.
The wobbegong is the common name given to the 12 species of carpet sharks in the family Orectolobidae. They are found in shallow temperate and tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean, chiefly around Australia and Indonesia, although one species occurs as far north as Japan. The word wobbegong is believed to come from an Australian Aboriginal language, meaning "shaggy beard", referring to the growths around the mouth of the shark of the western Pacific.
The Syngnathidae is a family of fish which includes seahorses, pipefishes, and seadragons. The name is derived from Ancient Greek: σύν, meaning "together", and γνάθος, meaning "jaw". The fused jaw is one of the traits that the entire family have in common.
The common seadragon or weedy seadragon is a marine fish related to the seahorses. Adult common seadragons are a reddish colour, with yellow and purple markings; they have small leaf-like appendages that resemble kelp fronds providing camouflage and a number of short spines for protection. Males have narrower bodies and are darker than females. Seadragons have a long dorsal fin along the back and small pectoral fins on either side of the neck, which provide balance. Common seadragons can reach 45 cm (18 in) in length.
Pipefishes or pipe-fishes (Syngnathinae) are a subfamily of small fishes, which, together with the seahorses and seadragons, form the family Syngnathidae.
The pygmy seahorses comprise several species of tiny seahorse in the syngnathid family or Syngnathidae. Family Syngnathidae is part of order Syngnathiformes, which contains fishes with fused jaws that suck food into tubular mouths. They are found in Southeast Asia in the Coral Triangle area. They are some of the smallest seahorse species in the world, typically measuring less than 2 centimetres (0.79 in) in height.
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 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 alligator pipefish or double-ended pipefish is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae and is the only species in the monotypic genus Syngnathoides. It is found in shallow water in the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific, its range extending from East Africa to northern Australia. This fish lives in habitats of seagrass and seaweed, and hides by positioning itself vertically with its head down amidst the similar-coloured fronds of vegetation. The elongated, well-camouflaged body can reach 29 cm (11 in) in length. It feeds by sucking up its prey.
Ruby is a color that is a representation of the color of the cut and polished ruby gemstone and is a shade of red or pink.
Orectolobus reticulatus, the network wobbegong, is a recently described species of carpet shark found in relatively shallow waters off Kimberley and Darwin in north-western Australia. With a known maximum length of only 52.3 centimetres (20.6 in), it may be the smallest species of wobbegong. Until its description in 2008, it had been confused with the northern wobbegong. The network wobbegong has a short snout, broad head, elongated body, and two dorsal fins, with the first being slightly larger than the second. Its body is grayish brown with darker brown markings and a pale yellow underbelly. The network wobbegong lives in shallow waters along reefy bottoms.
The Hippocampinae are a subfamily of small marine fishes in the family Syngnathidae. Depending on the classification system used, it comprises either seahorses and pygmy pipehorses, or only seahorses.
Coleman's pygmy seahorse is a species of fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is found off of the coast of Lord Howe Island, Australia, although unconfirmed occurrences have been reported from Milne Bay and the Ryukyu Islands. It lives in coarse sand and Zostera and Halophila sea grasses at depths around 5 metres (16 ft). It is expected to feed on small crustaceans, similar to other seahorses. Ovoviviparous reproduction is also expected, with males brooding eggs in a pouch before giving birth to live young.
Phyllopteryx is a genus of small fishes, commonly called seadragons, in the family Syngnathidae that are found along the western and southern coasts of Australia. Since the 19th century, the weedy or common seadragon was the only known species, until the description of the ruby seadragon in 2015. They are closely related to other members of the Syngnathidae such as the leafy seadragon, pipefish and seahorses, which all exhibit male pregnancy.
The paradoxical seahorse is a small seahorse in the genus Hippocampus. The only known specimen was captured in 1995 and remained unnoticed in a museum until 2006.
Nerida Gaye Wilson is an invertebrate marine molecular biologist at the Western Australian Museum who has interests in diversity, systematics, phylogeny, phylogeography and behavior. Wilson has been instrumental in demonstrating the level of marine cryptic species complexes in Antarctic waters, testing the circumpolar distribution paradigm with molecular data, and using interdisciplinary approaches to show how Antarctic diversity may have been generated. Her work with NOAA on Antarctic Marine Living Resources has been used to regulate exploratory benthic fisheries.
Campichthys tryoni is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. Little is known of this species, but the specimens that have been collected were found on the Queensland coast off of northeastern Australia. It is a rare mainly tan coloured pipefish with brownish markings, it has a white blotch over the eyes, a pale patch above the operculum and it has small white dots along its back and tail. The males frequently show irregular dark barring along their ventral surface. This species is ovoviviparous, with males carrying eggs in a brood pouch until giving birth to live young. The largest known specimen is 7.2 centimetres (2.8 in) long, while males may brood at roughly 6–6 centimetres (2.4–2.4 in). The species was described by James Douglas Ogilby in 1890 from a specimen collected in Moreton Bay, Queensland in 1886 and the specific name honours his friend, Mr Henry Tryon, with whom he enjoyed a collecting trip in Moreton Bay. It is a listed Marine species in Australia under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Acentronura breviperula, also known as the shortpouch pygmy pipehorse, dwarf pipehorse and northern little pipehorse, is a species of pygmy pipehorse, a member of the family Syngnathidae, the seahorses and pipefishes. It occurs in the Indo-Pacific region from the eastern Andaman Sea, through the Malay Archipelago to the Western Pacific as far east as New Guinea and the northern Great Barrier Reef.
Maroubra perserrata, also known as the sawtooth pipefish is a species of marine fish belonging to the family Syngnathidae. This species can be found at depths up to 20 meters along the coast of Australia from southern Queensland to southern Western Australia. While they can live in many different habitats, they are often found inhabiting openings in reefs and rocks that contain algae and invertebrates, which they likely rely on for camouflage. Reproduction occurs through ovoviviparity in which the males brood eggs for roughly 22 days before giving live birth. Maroubra perserrata is considered more mobile than many pipefish species due to its prehensile tail and reduced caudal fin.
