Hippocampus ingens
Pacific Seahorse [+]

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gasterosteiformes
Family: Syngnathidae
Genus: Hippocampus
species: Hippocampus ingens
+ITIS +WoRMS +Conservation Status

Description & Behavior

Video: Galapagos, Nov 2002, 3MB

The pacific seahorse, Hippocampus ingen (Girard, 1858), is one of the largest of the 34 known species of seahorses in the world, the pacific seahorse can reach up to 30 cm in length. The Genus name is derived from the Greek hippos or "horse" and campus or "sea monster."

Hippocampus ingens

Dorsal spines (total): 0-0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 18-21. Description: (based on 19 specimens): Adult height: 13-19 cm. Rings: 11+39 (38-40) Snout length: 2.3-2.4; head length: 2.1-2.5cm. Dorsal fin rays: 18-21 covering 2+1 rings. Pectoral fin rays: 15-17. Coronet: medium-high, tilted backwards with 5 well-defined points, sharp edges or flanges at top. Spines: variable, from low rounded bumps to well-developed blunt-tipped spines. Other distinctive characters: prominent, long (drooping), rounded, single cheek spines; prominent eye spine (may be broad or almost double); males commonly have a prominent keel; sexually mature females often have a dark patch below the anal fin. Color/Pattern: reddish-maroon, gray, yellow and gold; various shades of brown; may have fine white light and dark markings running vertically down body.

World Range & Habitat

Pacific: from San Diego in California to Peru including the Galápagos Islands. The pacific seahorse is nocturnal. Found in offshore waters, at 10 m or deeper. Occasionally caught at surface. Are often camouflaged within the branches of gorgonians and black coral trees where they are seen to curl their tail around the branches. Have been found in the stomachs of Pacific yellowfin tuna and bluefin tuna.

» GBIF occurrence data in Google Earth [Requirements | Tips] | Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) [World Map] | [about]

Feeding Behavior (Ecology)

Seahorses feed on bottom-swarming organisms such as mysids and other plankton.

Mysids are very small (seldom exceeding 30 mm in length) shrimp-like crustaceans which can be found throughout the oceanic water column and are also found in freshwater environments as well. Some mysids feed on small particles which they collect by grooming their body surface, whereas others are predators of zooplankton. Some mysids are scavengers. Marine mysids often are found in large swarms and are an important part of many fish diets. Mysids are also called "opposum shrimp", because of the brood pouch present in all mature females.

Mysids at present include more than 1,000 species, widespread over all the continents, inhabiting coastal and open sea waters, as well as continental fresh waters, several taxa occurring also in different groundwater habitats and in anchialine caves.

Seahorses lack teeth and stomachs. Prey is consumed by sucking it through their bony snout with a rapid snap of the head.

Life History

In seahorses, the female uses her ovipositor to deposit her eggs in the male's brood pouch where they are fertilized and remain until hatched. After a period of time, varying from ten days to six weeks, depending on the species and water temperature, the male gives birth to hundreds of live, tiny, seahorses, which are miniature replicas of the adults. Mode: dioecism, fertilization: in brood pouch or similar structure, and gestation period is 14-15 days depending on temperature.

Comments

Seahorses are in constant risk from overfishing and habitat destruction. Seahorses are exploited for traditional medicines and as aquarium fishes, and their habitats are among the most threatened marine environments. According to Project Seahorse of McGill University in Montreal, in the last five years many seahorse populations have declined by 50 percent.

Pacific seahorses, Hippocampus ingens, are listed as Vulnerable (VU A4cd) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:

VULNERABLE (VU)
A taxon is Vulnerable when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Vulnerable (see Section V), and it is therefore considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.

References & Further Research

BioOne ~ CITES ~ Discover Life ~ GBIF ~ Google Scholar ~ ITIS ~ IUCN RedList ~ MarineBio Network ~ NCBI ~ SCIRIS ~ SIRIS ~ Tree of Life Web Project ~ Wikipedia

Project Seahorse
David Hall's Encounters in the Sea
Wilhelm Bögershausen - clownfish underwater picture gallery

Search the Web for Pacific Seahorse » ARKive ~ Ask.com ~ Ask Jeeves ~ bing ~ deviantART ~ dmoz ~ Dogpile ~ Google Images ~ MySpace Images ~ OceanFootage ~ Picsearch ~ StumbleUpon ~ Yahoo! Images ~ YouTube

Feedback?

Citation: Hippocampus ingens, Pacific Seahorse - MarineBio.org. Retrieved , from .

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Hippocampus ingens Pacific Seahorse [+]