Order Gasterosteiformes / Family Syngnathidae
CITES Appendix II
Hippocampus histrix
Kaup 1856
Common names
Thorny seahorse; ibaratatsu (Japanese; Japan); stekel-seeperdjie (Afrikaans;South Africa)
Synonyms
None known
Description
Maximum recorded adult height: 17 cm68
Trunk rings: 11
Tail rings: 35 (34–37)
HL/SnL: 1.8 (1.7–2.0)
Rings supporting dorsal fin: 2 trunk rings and 1 tail ring
Dorsal fin rays: 17 (15–18)
Pectoral fin rays: 18 (17–20)
Coronet: Medium, with four or five long, sharp spines
Spines: Extremely long and sharp; all spines well-developed
Other distinctive characteristics: Long snout (more than one-half head length); single cheek spine;
short dorsal fin base; always has at least as many pectoral as dorsal fin rays (most species have more
dorsal than pectoral fin rays); sharp ventral keel; prominent spine in front of coronet
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Order Gasterosteiformes / Family Syngnathidae
CITES Appendix II
Colour/pattern: Base colour variable, including pale pink, yellow or green; spines often dark-tipped;
may have pale saddles, often with small dark spots, across dorso-lateral surfaces; snout not striped
Confirmed distribution
China; Federated States of Micronesia; France (New
Caledonia, Réunion, and Tahiti); India; Indonesia; Japan;
Malaysia; Mauritius; Papua New Guinea; Philippines;
Samoa; South Africa; Tonga; United Republic of Tanzania;
United States of America of America (Hawaii); Viet Nam
Suspected distribution
Bangladesh; Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; China
(Hong Kong SAR and Province of Taiwan); Comoros;
Fiji; Kenya; Kiribati; Madagascar; Mozambique;
Myanmar; Nauru; Palau; Seychelles; Singapore;
Solomon Islands; Sri Lanka; Thailand; Tuvalu; United
States of America (American Samoa); Vanuatu
Habitat
Typically found >6 m depth60; maximum reported
depth 20 m85; seagrass bed, weedy rocky reefs, sponges85; soft bottom with soft corals and sponges4
Life history
Found in pairs in the wild85
Trade
Dried for traditional medicine and curios; rarely live for aquarium or hobbyist use
Conservation status
The entire genus Hippocampus is listed in Appendix II of CITES, effective May 20041. H. histrix is
listed as Data Deficient by IUCN13. Indian populations were moved under Schedule-I of the Wildlife
Protection Act (1972) in 2001 which bans any collection or trade; H. histrix is listed as Vulnerable in
the Viet Nam National Red Data Book
Similar species
• H. angustus, occurring off Australia, has a shorter, striped snout, double cheek spines, and
blunter spines, especially on the upper dorsal surface of the trunk
• H. barbouri has a shorter, striped snout, a higher coronet, double cheek spines, and blunter
spines. It often also has poorly developed or undeveloped spines on alternate tail rings
• H. jayakari has more tail rings, more dorsal fin rays, a shorter snout, and spines on alternate tail
rings only. This species furthermore is not known outside the Red Sea and Persian Gulf
• H. spinosissimus has a deeper body; more tail rings; a shorter snout; lower, blunter spines; and a
higher coronet with smaller spines
Other notes
• The name H. histrix has been used indiscriminately for at least five species of spiny seahorse in
the Indo-Pacific basin. The true H. histrix is a distinctive species with one of the largest
distributions of any seahorse
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