Long-snouted seahorse

The long-snouted seahorse, known scientifically as Hippocampus guttulatus, is a special kind of marine fish. It belongs to the family Syngnathidae, which includes other unique sea creatures. In Great Britain, people often call it the spiny seahorse.

This beautiful seahorse lives in the northeast Atlantic Ocean and can also be found in the Mediterranean Sea. Its long snout and spiky body make it easy to recognize among other sea animals. Like all seahorses, it swims upright, which sets it apart from most other fish.

Synonyms

Some scientists have used different names for the long-snouted seahorse over time. These include H. hippocampus microstephanus Slastenenko 1937, H. hippocampus microcoronatus Slastenenko 1938, H. guttulatus multiannularis Ginsburg 1937, and H biscuspis Kaup 1856.

Description

The long-snouted seahorse is a small fish. It can grow up to about 21.5 cm long, but most are around 12 cm. This seahorse has a thin body, a long snout, and a tail that it can grab things with. The top of its head often has thin, spiky bits. Its color can be dark green, brown, or yellow, and it is usually covered with tiny white spots.

Distribution and habitat

The long-snouted seahorse lives in the temperate waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, from the south coast of the United Kingdom to the Netherlands, and south to Morocco. It is also found around the Canary Islands, the Azores, Madeira, Italy, and in the Mediterranean Sea.

This seahorse can be black, yellow, red, orange, or brown, often with white dots on its tail. It prefers shallow coastal waters that are 1 to 20 metres deep, close to Posidonia and seagrass meadows, or areas with sandy bottoms, rocks, and algae.

Biology

The long-snouted seahorse eats small crustaceans, larvae, fish eggs, and other tiny floating creatures. It is special because the male carries the eggs in a pouch on its belly. Inside the pouch, the eggs are kept safe and get food from a structure like a placenta. When the babies, called fry, are ready, they leave the pouch and grow up on their own. Seahorses can change their colors quickly to look like the plants around them, which helps them hide from danger. They swim in an upright position.

Conservation status

The long-snouted seahorse is not very common, and there is not much known about how many there are or how they are used for things like medicine and in aquariums. Because of this, it is listed as "Data Deficient" by the IUCN. It is also included in a special list called Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which helps make sure that trade does not harm the seahorse's survival.

One safe place for these seahorses is in Studland Bay, Devon, England, which became a Marine Conservation Zone in 2019 to protect them. Some areas, like the central Adriatic Sea, are important for these seahorses but face more human impact and need extra care.