Hippocampus hippocampus

• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Syngnathidae

Mostly marine . Some in brackish and fresh water . Distribution: Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans (mostly in warm temperate to tropical ). A series of bony rings encloses elongate body. Dorsal fin single; soft rays usually 15-60. Very small anal fin. Anal rays usually 2-6. Pectoral fin rays usually 10-23. Adults of some species may lack dorsal, anal, and pectoral fins. Pelvic fins lacking. Some without caudal fin. Caudal peduncle may be prehensile . Very small gill openings. Branchiostegal rays 1-3. Basisphenoid and supracleithrum lacking. Kidney unpaired (right side) and lacking glomerulus . About 60 cm maximum length . Some very colorful. Usually limited to shallow water. Feed on minute invertebrates sucked into a tubular snout. Males have a brood pouch in which the eggs are laid and where they are fertilized and incubated. A revision of the seahorses is underway (see Ref. 12238).The family Syngnathidae belongs to the Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes ) and the Order Syngnathiformes. It contains 52 genera and 215 species. It may be found in Marine, Brackish, and Freshwater environments and is primarily Marine. Many members of this family are used in the aquarium trade. Reproductively, most members of this family are bearers. The main mode of swimming of adult fish in this family is amiiform. Compared with other fish, the activity level of this family tends to be normal. Members of this family have been dated back to the lower Eocene epoch of the Tertiary period. This family may be found from 70° n to 47° s and 125° w to 180° e. Etymology of this family name : Greek, syn = with, together + Greek, gnathos = jaw

Genus Hippocampus

A genus of fish belonging to the family Syngnathidae, which also includes pipefish and leafy sea dragons. The seahorses are found in tropical and subtropical coastal and reef waters all over Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. Seahorses have a dorsal fin located on the lower body and pectoral fins located on the head near the gills . Female seahorses insert their ovipositor in the male's brood pouch, and she deposits eggs . Males release sperm into the surrounding seawater, and some swims into the pouch, fertilizing the eggs. The wall of the pouch grows to surround the embedded , fertilized eggs, and 2-3 weeks later, babies are born. Males do not protect the young, in fact may eat some of them after they are released.

Habitat

Occurs mostly in shallow inshore waters among algae[1]. May over-winter in deeper water. It mimics the green or yellow coloration of plants allowing it to hide among the vegetation. Has been reared in captivity[2].

Typically found in water with a depth of 0 to -255 meters (0 to -837 feet).[3]

Biome: Saltwater . Demersal .

Ecology: Hippocampus hippocampus is found in shallow, muddy waters; estuaries; inshore among algae; rocky areas (Whitehead 1986). They may overwinter in deeper water (Whitehead 1986). The breeding season for H. hippocampus extends from April to October (Wheeler 1985, Whitehead 1986).

This species may be particularly susceptible to decline. The limited information on habitat suggests they inhabit shallow, inshore areas (Whitehead 1986) that are susceptible to human degradation, as well as making them susceptible to being caught as bycatch. All seahorse species have vital parental care, and many species studied to date have high site fidelity (Perante et al. 2002, Vincent et al. in review), highly structured social behaviour (Vincent and Sadler 1995), and relatively sparse distributions (Lourie et al. 1999). The importance of life history parameters in determining response to exploitation has been demonstrated for a number of species (Jennings et al. 1998).[4]


List of Habitats:9.1Marine Neritic - Pelagic

Biology

Diet

Feeds on small prey and organic debris .

Reproduction

Ovoviviparous[5]. As with all seahorses, the incubation of the eggs takes place in a marsupial pouch found in front of the tail of the males[6].

Taxonomy

Ambiguous Synonyms

1. Hippocampus punctulatus Kaup, 1856

Unambiguous Synonyms

1. Hippocampus antiquorum Leach, 1814
2. Hippocampus antiquus Risso, 1827
3. Hippocampus brevirostris Schinz, 1822
4. Hippocampus europaeus Ginsburg, 1933
5. Hippocampus heptagonus Rafinesque, 1810
6. Hippocampus pentagonus Rafinesque, 1810
7. Hippocampus vulgaris Cloquet, 1821
8. Syngnathus hippocampus Linnaeus, 1758

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: Data last modified by FishBase 09-Jan-1994

Similar Species

Members of the genus Hippocampus

There are approximately 141 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

H. abdominalis (Big-Bellied Seahorse) · H. agnesae · H. alatus (Winged Seahorse) · H. algiricus (West African Seahorse) · H. alternatus · H. angustus (Western Australian Seahorse) · H. antiquorum · H. antiquus · H. aterrimus · H. atrichus · H. barbouri (Barbour´s Seahorse) · H. bargibanti (Bargibant´s Seahorse) · H. bicuspis · H. biocellatus (False-Eyed Seahorse) · H. bleekeri · H. borboniensis (Réunion Seahorse) · H. brachyrhynchus · H. breviceps (Short-Snouted Seahorse) · H. brevirostris · H. brunneus · H. bucculentus · H. cameleopardalis · H. camelopardalis (Giraffe Seahorse) · H. camelopardis · H. capensis (Knysna Seahorse) · H. chinensis · H. colemani · H. comes (Tiger Tail Seahorse) · H. coronatus (Common Japanese Seahorse) · H. cuda · H. deanei · H. deani · H. denise (Denise's Pygmy Seahorse) · H. ecuadorensis · H. elongatus · H. eoronatus · H. erectus (Northern Seahorse) · H. erinaceus · H. europaeus · H. fasciatus · H. fascicularis · H. filamentosus · H. fisheri (Fisher´s Seahorse) · H. foliatus · H. fuscus (Chilka Seahorse) · H. gigas · H. graciliformis · H. gracilis · H. gracilissimus · H. grandiceps (Big-Head Seahorse) · H. guttalatus · H. guttula · H. guttulatus (Long-Snouted Seahorse) · H. guttulatus microstephanus (Long-Snouted Seahorse) · H. guttulatus multiannularis · H. gutulatus · H. hendriki (Eastern Spiny Seahorse) · H. heptagonus · H. hildebrandi · H. hippocampus (Short-Snouted Seahorse) · H. hippocampus microcoronatus · H. hippocampus microstephanus · H. histrix (Longspine Seahorse) · H. hudsonius · H. hudsonius punctulatus · H. hystrix · H. ingens (Pacific Giant Seahorse) · H. japonicus · H. jayakari (Jayakar´s Seahorse) · H. jubatus · H. jugumus (Collared Seahorse) · H. kampylotrachelos · H. kelloggi (Kellog´s Seahorse) · H. kincaidi · H. knysnaensis · H. kuda (Oceanic Sea Horse Red) · H. kuda multiannularis · H. laevicaudatus · H. lichtensteinii (Lichtenstein's Seahorse) · H. longirostris · H. manadensis · H. mannulus · H. marginalis · H. melanospilos · H. minotaur (Bullneck Seahorse) · H. mohnikei (Japanese Seahorse) · H. moluccensis · H. monckei · H. monikei · H. montebelloensis (Monte Bello Seahorse) · H. multispinus (Northern Spiny Seahorse) · H. novae-hollandae · H. novae-hollandiae · H. novaehollandia · H. novaehollindae · H. novae hollandae · H. novalhollandiae · H. nuda · H. numnulus · H. obtusus

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• A catalogue of the fishes known to inhabit the waters of North America, north of th Tropic of Cancer, with notes on the species discovered in 1883 and 1884, by David Starr Jordan. Washington, Govt. print. off., 1885. ENG url p. 62.
• A catalogue of the fishes of Bermuda, with notes on a collection made in 1905 for the Field Museum, by Tarleton H. Bean. Chicago, 1906. ENG url p. 40.
• Annals of the Carnegie Museum. [Pittsburgh]: Published by authority of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Institute, 1901- ENG url p. 462, p. 488.
• Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. (compilers and editors) 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
• Dawson, C.E. (1986). Syngnathidae. p. 628-639. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2.
• IUCN. 2003. 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 18 November 2003.
• Jennings, S., Reynolds, J.D. and Mills, S.C. 1998. Life history correlates of responses to fisheries exploitation. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 265:333-339.
• Laffaille, P., E. Feunteun and J.C. Lefeuvre (2000). Composition of fish communities in a European macrotidal salt marsh (the Mont Saint-Michel Bay, France). Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci. 51(4):429-438.
• Lanfranco, G.G. (1993). The fish around Malta. Progress Press Co., Ltd., Malta.
• Lourie, S.A., Vincent, A.C.J. and Hall, H.J. 1999. Seahorses: an identification guide to the world's species and their conservation. Project Seahorse. London, UK.
• Maigret, J. and B. Ly (1986). Les poissons de mer de Mauritanie. Science Nat., Compiègne. 213 p.
• Marceta, B. (1999). Check-list of the fishes of the Gulf of Trieste (North Adriatic Sea) In prep. Provided on spreadsheet to FishBase (19 Jan 1999)
• Nijssen, H. and S.J. de Groot (1974). Catalogue of fish species of the Netherlands. Beaufortia 21(285):173-207.
• Perante, N.C., Pajaro, M.G., Meeuwig, J.J. and Vincent, A.C.J. 2002. Biology of a seahorse species Hippocampus comes in the central Philippines. Accepted by Journal of Fish Biology. 2001.
• Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. [Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia] ENG url p. 103, p. 445.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] ENG url p. 501, p. 502, p. 521, p. 530, p. 543, p. 570, p. 571.
• Records of the Australian Museum. Sydney, Australian Museum. ENG url p. 199.
• Report of the Commissioner - United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Washington, The Commission; U.S. Govt. Print. Off. ENG url p. 850.
• Shiino, Sueo M. 1976. List of Common Names of Fishes of the World, Those Prevailing among English-speaking Nations. Science Report of Shima Marineland, no. 4. Shima Marineland. Kashikojima, Shima, Mie, Japan. 262.
• Vincent, A.C.J. 1996. The International Trade in Seahorses. TRAFFIC International, Cambridge, UK.
• Vincent, A.C.J. and Sadler, L.M. 1995. Faithful pair bonds in wild seahorses, Hippocampus whitei. Animal Behaviour 50: 1557-1569.
• Vincent, A.C.J., Evans, K.L., and Marsden, A.D. 2005. Home range behaviour of the monogamous Australian seahorse, Hippocampus whitei. Environmental Biology of Fishes 72: 1–12.
• Wheeler, A. (1992). A list of the common and scientific names of fishes of the British Isles. J. Fish Biol. 41(1):1-37.
• Wheeler, A. 1985. World Encyclopedia of Fishes. London, MacDonald and Co. Ltd: 368 pp.
• Whitehead, P.J.P. 1986. Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Paris, UNESCO

Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• FishBase 2006.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed May 31, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from provider.
• Project seahorse 2003. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 17, 2007:

• European Environment Agency, EUNIS
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, National Institute of Marine Sciences and Technologies - Trawl Surveys
• Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Ichtyologie
• Senckenberg, Collection Pisces

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3857090
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Fis-23547
• Fishbase Species ID: 1801
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13816411
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 166497
• IUCN ID: 10069
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 5464

Footnotes

1. Dawson, C.E. (1986). Syngnathidae. p. 628-639. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. [back]
2. Lange, J. (1989). The breeding of different coral fishes in the Zoo Aquarium Berlin. Bull. L'Inst. Oceanogr. (Monaco) No. 5 Spec.:219-222. [back]
3. Mean = -44.940 meters (-147.441 feet), Standard Deviation = 104.080 based on 18 observations. Ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
4. Project seahorse 2003. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008. [back]
5. Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966). Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p. [back]
6. Maigret, J. and B. Ly (1986). Les poissons de mer de Mauritanie. Science Nat., Compiègne. 213 p. [back]

©2004-2009 the BayScience Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved.