The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™
ISSN 2307-8235 (online)
IUCN 2008: T10089A3162006
Hippocampus zosterae, Dwarf Seahorse
Assessment by: Project Seahorse
View on www.iucnredlist.org
Citation: Project Seahorse. 2003. Hippocampus zosterae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
2003: e.T10089A3162006. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2003.RLTS.T10089A3162006.en
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THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™
Taxonomy
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Animalia
Chordata
Actinopterygii
Syngnathiformes
Syngnathidae
Taxon Name: Hippocampus zosterae Jordan & Gilbert, 1882
Common Name(s):
• English:
Dwarf Seahorse
Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria:
Data Deficient ver 3.1
Year Published:
2003
Date Assessed:
April 30, 2003
Annotations:
Needs Updating
Justification:
There are no published data about population trends or total numbers of mature animals for this
species. There is very little available information about its extent of occurrence or its area of occupancy.
There have been no quantitative analyses examining the probability of extinction of this species. As a
result, we have insufficient data to properly assess the species against any of the IUCN criteria, and
propose a listing of data deficient (DD).
Hippocampus zosterae previously was listed in 1996 as VU A2cd under the 1994 criteria. This
assessment was based on suspected past declines in occupancy, occurrence and habitat, as well as on
potential levels of exploitation. In reassessing the species under the new criteria and with greater
taxonomic understanding we find that no appropriate data on biology and ecology, habitat, abundance
or distribution are available for this species. Further research is needed, so we recommend the species
be listed as DD under the new criteria.
Previously Published Red List Assessments
1996 – Vulnerable (VU)
Geographic Range
Range Description:
Hippocampus zosterae is a species from the Gulf of Mexico (Florida Keys and Texas) and the Bahamas
(Lourie et al. 1999).
Country Occurrence:
Native: Bahamas; United States (Florida, Texas)
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Hippocampus zosterae – published in 2003.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2003.RLTS.T10089A3162006.en
1
FAO Marine Fishing Areas:
Native: Atlantic - western central
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Hippocampus zosterae – published in 2003.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2003.RLTS.T10089A3162006.en
2
Population
Current Population Trend: Unknown
Habitat and Ecology (see Appendix for additional information)
This species is found in shallow seagrass flats, especially in association with Zostera and other seagrass,
and is found in floating vegetation (Lourie et al. 1999).
This species may be particularly susceptible to decline. The information on habitat suggests they inhabit
shallow seagrass beds (Lourie et al. 1999) that are susceptible to human degradation, as well as making
them susceptible to being caught as bycatch. All seahorse species have vital parental care, and many
species studied to date have high site fidelity (Perante et al. 2002, Vincent et al., in review), highly
structured social behaviour (Vincent and Sadler 1995), and relatively sparse distributions (Lourie et al.
1999). The importance of life history parameters in determining response to exploitation has been
demonstrated for a number of species (Jennings et al. 1998).
Systems: Marine
Threats (see Appendix for additional information)
Hippocampus zosterae are one of the more popular seahorses in the aquarium trade (Vincent 1996,
Wood 2001). Florida has a small directed trawl fishery in shallow grass beds off the west coast for H.
zosterae where they are landed in a live bait trawl fishery. In this fishery alone, tens of thousands of H.
zosterae are collected each year for the aquarium trade (Vincent and Perry, in prep.). Hippocampus
zosterae occupies the 2nd rank of the top 10 fishes exported from Florida for the aquarium trade (Wood
2001).
The American Fisheries Society (AFS) lists the United States populations of H. zosterae as Threatened
due to habitat degradation (Musick et al. 2000). While this status may apply on a national level, we did
not find information that would justify such a listing for the species as a whole.
Conservation Actions (see Appendix for additional information)
The entire genus Hippocampus was listed in Appendix II of CITES in November 2002. Implementation of
this listing will begin May 2004. Full monitoring of the trade is underway in the United States, however
this is dependent on traders’ declarations. Seahorses are listed under Title 68 (Rules of the Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission) of the Florida Administrative Codes. The targeted fishery for the
aquarium trade in Florida is monitored and regulations are in place, such as a limitation on the number
of commercial harvesters, however the non-selective exploitation is not monitored in any state. The
take of seahorses for the aquarium trade is prohibited in the USVI and Puerto Rico. Stock assessments
are needed in order to evaluate the sustainability of the fishery and establish appropriate management
guidelines. Further research on this species biology, ecology, habitat, abundance and distribution is
needed.
Credits
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Hippocampus zosterae – published in 2003.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2003.RLTS.T10089A3162006.en
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Assessor(s):
Project Seahorse
Reviewer(s):
Foster, S.J., Marsden, A.D. & Vincent, A.C.J. (Syngnathid Red List Authority)
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Hippocampus zosterae – published in 2003.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2003.RLTS.T10089A3162006.en
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Bibliography
Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. (eds). 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. pp. 378.
International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
IUCN. 2003. 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 18
November 2003.
Jennings, S., Reynolds, J.D. and Mills, S.C. 1998. Life history correlates of responses to fisheries
exploitation. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 265:333-339.
Lourie, S.A., Vincent, A.C.J. and Hall, H.J. 1999. Seahorses: an identification guide to the world's species
and their conservation. Project Seahorse, London, U.K.
Mallick, S.A., Driessen, M.M. and Hocking, G.J. 1997a. Biology and conservation of the eastern barred
bandicoot (Perameles gunnii) in Tasmania. Wildlife Report No. 97/1. Parks and Wildlife Service,
Tasmania, Australia.
Masuda, H., Amaoka, K., Araga, C., Uyeno, T. and Yoshino, T. 1984. The fishes of the Japanese
Archipelago. Tokai University Press, Tokyo, Japan.
Musick, J.A., Harbin, M.M., Berkeley, S.A., Burgess, G.H., Eklund, A.M., Findley, L., Gilmore, R.G., Golden,
J.T., Ha, D.S., Huntsman, G.R., McGovern, J.C., Parker, S.J., Poss, S.G., Sala, E., Schmidt T.W., Sedberry,
G.R., Weeks, H. and Wright, S.G. 2000. Marine, estuarine, and diadromous fish stocks at risk of
extinction in North America (Exclusive of Pacific Salmonids). Fisheries 25(11): 6-30.
Perante, N.C., Pajaro, M.G., Meeuwig, J.J. and Vincent, A.C.J. 2002. Biology of a seahorse species
Hippocampus comes in the central Philippines. Accepted by Journal of Fish Biology. 2001.
Vincent, A.C.J. and Sadler, L.M. 1995. Faithful pair bonds in wild seahorses, Hippocampus whitei. Animal
Behaviour 50: 1557-1569.
Vincent, A.C.J., Evans, K.L., and Marsden, A.D. 2005. Home range behaviour of the monogamous
Australian seahorse, Hippocampus whitei. Environmental Biology of Fishes 72: 1–12.
Wood, E.M. 2001. Collection of coral reef fish for aquaria: Global trade, conservation issues and
management strategies. Marine Cons.Soc., U.K. 80 pp.
Citation
Project Seahorse. 2003. Hippocampus zosterae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2003:
e.T10089A3162006. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2003.RLTS.T10089A3162006.en
Disclaimer
To make use of this information, please check the Terms of Use.
External Resources
For Images and External Links to Additional Information, please see the Red List website.
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Hippocampus zosterae – published in 2003.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2003.RLTS.T10089A3162006.en
5
Appendix
Habitats
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)
Habitat
Season
Suitability
Major
Importance?
9. Marine Neritic -> 9.9. Marine Neritic - Seagrass (Submerged)
-
Suitable
-
Threats
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)
Threat
Timing
Scope
Severity
Impact Score
1. Residential & commercial development -> 1.1.
Housing & urban areas
Ongoing
-
-
-
Stresses:
1. Ecosystem stresses -> 1.1. Ecosystem conversion
1. Ecosystem stresses -> 1.2. Ecosystem degradation
Ongoing
-
Stresses:
1. Ecosystem stresses -> 1.1. Ecosystem conversion
1. Ecosystem stresses -> 1.2. Ecosystem degradation
Ongoing
-
Stresses:
1. Ecosystem stresses -> 1.1. Ecosystem conversion
1. Ecosystem stresses -> 1.2. Ecosystem degradation
Ongoing
-
Stresses:
2. Species Stresses -> 2.1. Species mortality
Ongoing
-
Stresses:
2. Species Stresses -> 2.1. Species mortality
Ongoing
-
Stresses:
1. Ecosystem stresses -> 1.2. Ecosystem degradation
1. Residential & commercial development -> 1.2.
Commercial & industrial areas
1. Residential & commercial development -> 1.3.
Tourism & recreation areas
5. Biological resource use -> 5.4. Fishing & harvesting
aquatic resources -> 5.4.1. Intentional use:
(subsistence/small scale)
5. Biological resource use -> 5.4. Fishing & harvesting
aquatic resources -> 5.4.2. Intentional use: (large
scale)
5. Biological resource use -> 5.4. Fishing & harvesting
aquatic resources -> 5.4.6. Motivation
Unknown/Unrecorded
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Conservation Actions in Place
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)
Conservation Actions in Place
In-Place Species Management
Harvest management plan: Yes
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Hippocampus zosterae – published in 2003.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2003.RLTS.T10089A3162006.en
6
Conservation Actions in Place
In-Place Education
Included in international legislation: Yes
Subject to any international management/trade controls: Yes
Conservation Actions Needed
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)
Conservation Actions Needed
3. Species management -> 3.1. Species management -> 3.1.1. Harvest management
3. Species management -> 3.1. Species management -> 3.1.2. Trade management
4. Education & awareness -> 4.3. Awareness & communications
Research Needed
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)
Research Needed
1. Research -> 1.2. Population size, distribution & trends
1. Research -> 1.3. Life history & ecology
3. Monitoring -> 3.1. Population trends
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Hippocampus zosterae – published in 2003.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2003.RLTS.T10089A3162006.en
7
The IUCN Red List Partnership
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is produced and managed by the IUCN Global Species
Programme, the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and The IUCN Red List Partnership. The IUCN
Red List Partners are: BirdLife International; Botanic Gardens Conservation International; Conservation
International; Microsoft; NatureServe; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Sapienza University of Rome; Texas
A&M University; Wildscreen; and Zoological Society of London.
THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™