Long snout seahorse

Scientific name: Hippocampus reidi

Country: Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, Cuba, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, United States

Continent: North and South America

Diet: Carnivore

Food & feeding: Crustaceans, nematodes, invertebrates.

Habitats: Coral reef (sea grass beds)

Conservation status: Data deficient

Relatives: Pipefish

Description: Seahorses can grow to a length of 17.5 cm. They are scaleless but have bony plates arranged in rings around the body. Their bony coronet, on top of their head is distinctive to each individual. Seahorses swim upright propelling themselves with their dorsal fin, and steering with their pectoral fins, which are located behind their eyes. As poor swimmers, they are usually found attached to reefs or seagrasses with their prehensile (gripping) tails which are unique to seahorses.

Lifestyle: Seahorses are associated with coastal habitats of reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves. They can blend into almost any type of habitat as they can change colour to match their surroundings. Males have a small territory of around 0.5 km, and females roam around with overlapping territories of 1.5 km. They are a ‘sit-and-wait’ predator, quickly capturing passing prey by sucking them up with their long snouts.

During the breeding season, mature seahorses begin to pair up. A couple perform a courtship ritual for several days, changing and brightening in colour, intertwining their tails, and circling a chosen piece of seagrass together. During this time the male will display his unique brood pouch to impress the female. When the female’s eggs are ready, they will swim together nose to nose, and the female will use her ovipositor to deposit her unfertilised eggs into his brood pouch. The female will then visit the male every morning and they perform a short version of their ritual dance.

Meanwhile, the eggs inside the pouch are fertilised, incubated and hatched, receiving a special nourishing fluid inside the pouch. Over the six week gestation, the nourishing fluid becomes increasingly saltier until it matches the salinity of the surrounding seawater. The eggs and embryos receive oxygen through a network of blood vessels from the male, much like the mammalian placenta. At this time, the male relaxes the muscles around the pouch and will start tail-pumping to release the juveniles. They hatch as miniature adults, and drift away to find food and a territory of their own.

Family & friends: Seahorses are usually solitary or live in monogamous pairs, occupying small territories.

Keeping in touch: Seahorses have excellent eye sight and can move their eyes independently. They can communicate during the mating ritual by changing colour and posturing with their heads.

Growing up: After six weeks inside their father’s brood pouch, the young seahorses emerge and must fend for themselves. Food is a priority and like the adults they are generalists and will feed on the most abundant and /or easily caught prey.

Conservation news: Hippocampus reidi is one the most widely held species of seahorse in public aquaria, and also one of the most sought after species in the international aquarium trade. It is also widely used for the traditional oriental medicine market. The species is currently listed as Data Deficient by the IUCN.