Giraffe seahorse

Giraffe seahorse
Conservation status
	; Data Deficient (IUCN 3.1)
	CITES Appendix II (CITES)
Scientific 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
	Hippocampus subcoronatus Günther,1867;

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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

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d 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.
^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2018). "Hippocampus camelopardis" in FishBase. February 2018 version.
^ 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.
^ ^a ^b 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

References

Further reading