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A pygmy seahorse found at a depth of around 32 metres (105 ft) at Tulamben near a shipwreck Pygmy seahorse found while diving Nudi's Fall, Lembeh, Indonesia The known species are these: Bargibant's pygmy seahorse ( Hippocampus bargibanti ) are always found on gorgonian corals of the genus Muricella , and live their whole adult life on a single ...
Hippocampus bargibanti, also known as Bargibant's seahorse or the pygmy seahorse, is a seahorse of the family Syngnathidae found in the central Indo-Pacific area. [3]This pygmy seahorse is tiny—usually less than 2 centimetres (0.79 in) in size—and lives exclusively on gorgonian sea-fans, as its coloration and physical features expertly mimic the coral for camouflage. [4]
Seahorse life-cycle. The male seahorse is equipped with a brood pouch on the ventral, or front-facing, side of the tail. When mating, the female seahorse deposits up to 1,500 eggs in the male's pouch. The male carries the eggs for 9 to 45 days until the seahorses emerge fully developed, but very small. The young are then released into the water ...
The pygmy seahorse not only makes certain species of gorgonians its home, but also closely resembles its host, thus is well camouflaged. [12] Two species of pygmy seahorse, Hippocampus bargibanti and Hippocampus denise, are obligate residents on gorgonians. H. bargibanti is limited to two species in the single genus Muricella.
Because pygmy seahorses are so small — about 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) long — divers tend to photograph them in extreme close-ups, which include detailed views of nearby corals. On iNaturalist ...
Pygmy seahorses have a single gill opening on the back of the head (instead of two on the sides as in normal seahorses), and the males brood their young inside their trunk, instead of in a pouch on the tail. [11] A molecular phylogeny confirms that the pygmy seahorses are a monophyletic sister lineage of all other seahorses. [10]
Male seahorses have a specialized ventral brood pouch to carry the embryos, male sea dragons attach the eggs to their tails, and male pipefish may do either, depending on their species. [4] The most fundamental difference between the different lineages of the family Syngnathidae is the location of male brood pouch. [ 5 ]
The Hippocampus nalu's highly different spine morphology along the superior trunk ridge also differentiates the species from its fellow pygmy seahorse. [7] Being a pygmy seahorse, H. nalu is very small, with juveniles being ~10 mm long and adults growing up to a length of 2 centimetres. [2] [8]