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A hippocampus (or seahorse) is a genus of fish (family Syngnathidae ) found in temperate and tropical waters all over the world.

Seahorses range in size from 16 mm (the recently discovered species [1]) to 35 cm. They are notable for being one of only a few species where the males get pregnant. A seahorse pregnancy lasts approximately two to three weeks. Seahorses are also unusual among fishes for being monogamous.

Seahorse populations have been endangered in recent years by overfishing. The seahorse is used in traditional Chinese herbology. As many as 20 million seahorses a year may be caught and sold for this purpose. [2]

Though close relatives of sea horses, sea dragons have larger bodies and leaf-like appendages which enable them to hide among floating seaweed or kelp beds. Sea dragons feed on larval fishes and amphipods, such as and small shrimp-like crustaceans called mysids ("sea lice"), sucking up their prey in their small mouths. Many of these amphipods feed on the red algae that thrives in the shade of the kelp forests where the sea dragons live.

Import and export of seahorses will controlled under CITES from May 15, 2004.

1 Species

There are approximately 35 known species of seahorse including:

• Hippocampus abdominalis : (Big-belly seahorse) which is found off the coast of New Zealand, and south and east Australia
• Hippocampus algiricus : (West African Seahorse)
• Hippocampus angustus: (Narrow Bellied Seahorse)
• Hippocampus barbouri : (Barbour's seahorse or Zebra-snout seahorse)
• Hippocampus bargibanti (Pygmy Seahorse) which is found in the area of New Caledonia
• Hppocampus borboniensis : (Réunion Seahorse)
• Hippocampus breviceps: (Short Snouted Seahorse) which is found off the coast of south and east Australia
• Hippocampus camelopardalis : (Giraffe Seahorse)
• Hippocampus capensis : (Knysna Seahorse)
• Hippocampus comes : (Tiger Tail Seahorse) which is found in the Far East
• Hippocampus coronatus : (Crowned Seahorse)
• Hippocampus erectus : (Lined Seahorse) which is found off the east coast of the Americas, between Nova Scotia and Uruguay
• Hippocampus fisheri : (Fisher's Seahorse)
• Hippocampus fuscus : (Sea Pony) which is found in the Indian Ocean
• Hippocampus guttulatus : (Speckled Seahorse)
• Hippocampus hippocampus: (European Seahorse) which is found in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Sea
• Hippocampus histrix : (Thorny Seahorse) which is found in the Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and the Far East
• Hippocampus ingens : (Pacific Seahorse) which is found off the Pacific coast coast of North, Central and South America)
• Hippocampus jayakari : (Jayakar's Seahorse)
• Hippocampus kelloggi : (Great Seahorse)
• Hippocampus kuda : (Spotted Seahorse)
• Hippocampus lichtensteinii :: (Lichtenstein's Seahorse)
• Hippocampus minotaur : (Bullneck Seahorse)
• Hippocampus mohnikei : (Japanese Seahorse)
• Hippocampus procerus : (Hippocampus procerus)
• Hippocampus reidi : (Brazilian Seahorse) which is found in the Caribbean in coral reefs
• Hippocampus sindonis : (Shiho's seahorse)
• Hippocampus spinosissimus : (Hedgehog Seahorse)
• Hippocampus subelongatus : (Tigersnout Seahorse or West Australian Seahorse)
• Hippocampus trimaculatus : (Three-Spot Seahorse)
• Hippocampus tuberculatus : (Knobby Seahorse)
• Hippocampus whitei : (White's Seahorse)which is found off the coast of east Australia
• Hippocampus zebra : (Zebra Seahorse)
• Hippocampus zosterae : (Dwarf Seahorse) which is found in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean)