Order Gasterosteiformes / Family Syngnathidae
CITES Appendix II
Hippocampus guttulatus
Cuvier 1829
Common names
Long-snouted seahorse
Synonyms
H. hippocampus microstephanus Slastenenko 1937; H. hippocampus microcoronatus Slastenenko
1938; H. guttulatus multiannularis Ginsburg 1937; H biscuspis Kaup 1856
Description
Maximum recorded adult height: 18 cm2
Trunk rings: 11
Tail rings: 37–39 (35–40)
HL/SnL: 2.6 (2.3–2.9)
Rings supporting dorsal fin: 2 trunk rings and 1 tail ring
Dorsal fin rays: 19–20 (17–20)
Pectoral fin rays: 17 (16–18)
Coronet: Small but distinct, with 5 rounded knobs or blunt points; horizontal plate in front of
coronet, as high as coronet itself and with a more or less prominent spine at its front edge; coronet
not joined smoothly to neck
Spines: Medium to well-developed, with blunt tips
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Order Gasterosteiformes / Family Syngnathidae
CITES Appendix II
Other distinctive characteristics: Prominent, rounded eye spines; often has a mane of thick skin
fronds on neck and head
Colour/pattern: Variable brown; prominent white spots on body, often with a dark ring around them,
that tend to coalesce into horizontal wavy lines76; may be variously mottled or with pale saddles
across dorso-lateral surface
Confirmed distribution
Croatia; Cyprus; France;
Greece; Italy; Malta;
Morocco; Netherlands;
Portugal; Spain; United
Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland
Suspected distribution
Albania; Algeria; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Egypt; Israel;
Lebanon; Libya; Monaco; Serbia and Montenegro; Senegal; Slovenia; Syria; Tunisia; Turkey
Habitat
Maximum reported depth 12 m77; shallow inshore waters in seaweeds and algal stands4, 78; deeper
depths and rocky areas in winter79
Life history
Height at which 50 per cent of the population has reached sexual maturity 10 cm77; breeding season
March to October80; found in groups in the wild77; egg diameter averages 2 mm15; gestation duration
3–5 weeks76; length at birth averages 12 mm15; maximum reported brood size 58181; planktonic
immediately after birth81
Trade
Dried for curios; live for aquarium or hobbyist use
Conservation status
The entire genus Hippocampus is listed in Appendix II of CITES, effective May 20041. H. guttulatus
is listed as Data Deficient by IUCN13. H. guttulatus is listed in the Red Data Books of France and
Portugal; the species is protected in Slovenia under the 1993 Protection of Threatened Animal
Species Act, which prohibits trade in and bans the keeping of the animal in captivity
Similar species
• H. algiricus has thicker body rings and fewer dorsal fin rays
• H. hippocampus has a more rounded body, shorter snout, fewer fin rays, and a higher, ridge-like
or wedge-shaped coronet attached smoothly to the nape of the neck
Other notes
• Males have proportionally longer tails than do females77
• This species has been widely called H. ramulosus, but re-examination of the H. ramulosus type
specimen shows that it differs from the species discussed in this guide as H. guttulatus
• Specimens from the Black Sea have tiny coronets and less pronounced tubercles on the body.
They may represent a separate species
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