Giraffe seahorse
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Syngnathiformes
Family: Syngnathidae
Genus: Hippocampus
Species:
H. camelopardalis
Binomial name
Hippocampus camelopardalis
Bianconi, 1854
Synonyms[3]

The giraffe seahorse (Hippocampus camelopardalis) is a species of fish of the family Syngnathidae.[4] It is found in coastal waters off of the south and east coasts of Africa, from South Africa to Tanzania, and possibly north to Kenya.[1] It lives in estuarine seagrass beds, algae beds, and shallow reefs to depths of 45 metres (148 ft), where it can grow to lengths of 10 centimetres (3.9 in).[1][5] It is expected to feed on small crustaceans, similar to other seahorses. This species is ovoviviparous, with males carrying eggs in a brood pouch before giving birth to live young. Individuals are sexually mature at around 6.5 centimetres (2.6 in).[5] Major threats to this species could be habitat loss, through coastal development and pollution, and overexploitation through bycatch.[1] Some other threats include human use by drying out the seahorse for traditional medicine or as a curio.

Some distinctive characteristics include dark spots, one on the top of the coronet or crown of the seahorse's head and some on the dorso-lateral surface of the seahorse. It has a prominent spine above its eye in both the female and male specimen.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Pollom, R. (2017). "Hippocampus camelopardalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T10064A100939136. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T10064A100939136.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. ↑ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2018). "Hippocampus camelopardis" in FishBase. February 2018 version.
  4. ↑ Scales, Helen (2009). Poseidon's Steed: The Story of Seahorses, From Myth to Reality. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-101-13376-7. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  5. 1 2 Lourie, S.A., A.C.J. Vincent and H.J. Hall, 1999. Seahorses: an identification guide to the world's species and their conservation. Project Seahorse, London. p.214

Further reading


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.