Hippocampus Erectus – Lined Seahorse

This cutie had no problem posing for the camera.

Lined seahorses can be found in shallow tropical and temperate waters at depths from 5-70m, in bays, estuaries and near-shore coastal waters, swimming freely in mid-water or attached to sea-grass. During winter they move to deeper waters.

The Lined seahorse is a species of fish that belongs to the family Syngnathidae. It is listed by the World Conservation Union on the Red List as Vulnerable. The degradation of their habitat and the capture by aquarium trade fisheries is the cause of great concern, they now have limitation on the number of commercial harvesters.

These seahorses are deep-chested, robust and have horizontal white lines from the neck all the way down the body and white small dots on its tail. They can reach a length of up to 19cm with a lifespan of 1-5 years, and come in a variety of colours including ash-grey, black, brown, orange, red and yellow. They rely on this colouring for camouflage as they are poor swimmers.

They use their pectoral fins for steering, the dorsal fin for swimming, and their curly tail for anchoring. Their eyes are similar to that of a chameleon as they orbit independently. They feed by sucking in small crustaceans, plants and plankton using their long toothless snouts like a pipette.

The Seahorse is monogamous and mate with a partner for a season or for lifetime. After a courting dance by the couple, the female deposits her eggs (200-600) into the male’s brood pouch under his tail, he seals and fertilizes the eggs, and curries the embryos to term (20 days).

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