Longsnout seahorse

Tropical reef fish

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Identity card

Longsnout seahorse

Scientific name:: Hippocampus reidi

Family:: Syngnathidae

Class:: Actinopterygii

Phylum:: Chordata

Year of description:: Ginsburg, 1933

IUCN Status:: Near Threatened

CITES-status:: appendix II

Distribution:: Warm waters of the western Atlantic Ocean, from North Carolina and Bermuda all the way to northern South America.

Habitat:: It lives mainly along the shore to a depth of 15 metres.

Size:: It measures about ten centimetres (about 15 cm when stretched).

Diet:: This seahorse feeds on zooplankton, fish eggs and small crustaceans that it sucks in with its tiny mouth.

The male longsnout seahorse incubate the eggs in its ventral pouch.

The longsnout seahorse reaches sexual maturity at about 8 months.

did you know?

Biomimicry: the joints and flexibility of the gripping tail of seahorses inspire the design of new robots or defence systems, particularly in the medical field.

Where is the animal to be found?

It lives mainly along the shore to a depth of 15 metres. It is most often found attached to gorgonians, phanerogam leaves, floating sargasso weed, sponges...

How can it be recognised?

The longsnout seahorse is characterised by its upright position and the shape of its head that is reminiscent of a horse. It uses its tail to cling to seaweed. It measures about ten centimetres (about 15 cm when stretched).

What is distinctive about it?

After a courtship ritual that resembles a ballet, the female lays her eggs in the male's ventral pouch, which he then fertilises and incubates. Depending on the water temperature, babies are born about 15 days later.