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A seahorse (also written sea-horse and sea horse) is any of 46 species of small marine bony fish in the genus Hippocampus. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek hippókampos ( ἱππόκαμπος ), itself from híppos ( ἵππος ) meaning "horse" and kámpos ( κάμπος ) meaning "sea monster" [ 4 ] [ 5 ] or "sea animal". [ 6 ]
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 ]
As seahorses have a sister taxon relationship with Idiotropiscis, and other pygmy pipehorse genera are likely basal to this group (given their more pipefish-like appearance), this classification would also make the Syngnathinae paraphyletic. Hippocampinae includes only seahorses, pygmy pipehorses are placed into own subfamily [2]
The lined seahorse is a diurnal species that ranges in length from 12 cm to 17 cm; the maximum length reported for the species is 19 cm. The seahorse is sexually dimorphic, meaning there are distinct differences in appearances of males and females; most notably the brood pouch located on the male's abdomen which it utilized in reproduction.
The weedy pygmy seahorse is a small fish which can reach a maximum length of approximately 1.7 cm, which makes it one of the smallest representatives of the seahorses. [4] The body is small and slender with a prehensile tail. The head is relatively large, it represents about 25% of the size of the body. [4] The eyes are prominent.
The Pacific seahorse, also known as the giant seahorse, (Hippocampus ingens) is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae. Their genus name (Hippocampus) is derived from the Greek word hippos, which means "horse" and campus, which means "sea monster." [4] This species is the only seahorse species found in the eastern Pacific Ocean. [5]
The short-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus hippocampus) is a species of seahorse in the family Syngnathidae. It is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea and parts of the North Atlantic, particularly around Italy and the Canary Islands. In 2007, colonies of the species were discovered in the River Thames around London and Southend-on-Sea. [4]
Hippocampus kuda is a species of seahorse, also known as the common seahorse, estuary seahorse, yellow seahorse or spotted seahorse. The common name sea pony has been used for populations formerly treated as the separate species Hippocampus fuscus , now a synonym of H. kuda .