Reef Fish
Seahorses
Hippocampus · Bony fish, genus Hippocampus, family Syngnathidae (seahorses and pipefishes); genus-level overview of roughly 50 species
Seahorses ask divers to recalibrate. Upright posture, prehensile tail, independently swiveling eyes, and a brood pouch in which the male carries and births the young: nothing else on the reef works quite this way. Roughly fifty species make up the genus, from thumbnail pygmies to the big-belly seahorse of southern Australia, most of them ambush feeders sucking tiny crustaceans through tubular snouts. They are weak swimmers and strong holders: find one gripping a sponge, sea whip, or net fragment and it will likely be within meters of that spot next month. That site fidelity, plus a huge dried-animal trade, is why the entire genus has sat on CITES Appendix II since 2004. Move slowly, keep lights short, and let the animal keep its grip: a dislodged seahorse spends real energy getting home.
Dove e quando avvistarne uno
"Residente" significa che la maggior parte delle immersioni in quella destinazione li incontra; "stagionale" significa che sono presenti in modo affidabile nei mesi indicati; qualsiasi altra cosa è un bonus, non un piano.
| Destinazione | Affidabilità | Mesi | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| BonaireBonaire | Resident: seen on most dives | Tutto l'anno | |
| Bali & Nusa PenidaIndonesia | Resident: seen on most dives | Tutto l'anno | |
| AnilaoPhilippines | Resident: seen on most dives | Tutto l'anno | |
| Lembeh StraitIndonesia | Resident: seen on most dives | Tutto l'anno | |
| Dumaguete, Dauin & Apo IslandPhilippines | Resident: seen on most dives | Tutto l'anno | |
| South AustraliaAustralia | Resident: seen on most dives | Tutto l'anno |
Il mese migliore, a colpo d'occhio
Capirle
Habitat: Seagrass beds, sponge and soft-coral gardens, mangrove edges, jetty piles, and rubble; anything grippable in gentle water.
Distribuzione: Temperate and tropical coasts worldwide, from Caribbean seagrass to Indo-Pacific muck and the cool bays of southern Australia.
Comportamento: Weak swimmers and strong holders: a prehensile tail anchors each animal to a home patch it may keep for months; the male incubates eggs in a brood pouch and gives birth to live young.
Dieta: Copepods, mysids, and other small crustaceans sucked through the tubular snout in enormous daily numbers.
Dimensioni: tipicamente intorno a 0.1 m; documentato fino a 0.35 m (height; the genus spans 1.5 cm pygmies to the 35 cm big-belly seahorse).
Come comportarsi in sua presenza
Approach slowly on the animal's level, keep lights brief and angled, and never detach a seahorse from its holdfast; many sites cap photo time per group.
Conservazione
All Hippocampus species are on CITES Appendix II; several are threatened and many are Data Deficient, with dried-trade and bycatch pressure far exceeding aquarium collection.
Siti mappati noti per avvistamenti
I siti evidenziati sono stati schedati per questa specie dai nostri redattori; i numeri sono record di occorrenza GBIF registrati entro circa 5 km dal sito a partire dal 1990.
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