Giraffe seahorse

Species of fish

Giraffe seahorse

Conservation status

Data Deficient (IUCN 3.1)[1]

CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]

Scientific classification
Domain:  | Eukaryota
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Chordata
Class:  | Actinopterygii
Order:  | Syngnathiformes
Family:  | Syngnathidae
Genus:  | Hippocampus
Species:  |

H. camelopardalis

Binomial name
Hippocampus camelopardalis

Bianconi, 1854

Synonyms[3]

* Hippocampus subcoronatus Günther,1867

The giraffe seahorse (Hippocampus camelopardalis) is a species of fish of the family Syngnathidae.[4] It is found in coastal waters off of the south and east coasts of Africa, from South Africa to Tanzania, and possibly north to Kenya.[1] It lives in estuarine seagrass beds, algae beds, and shallow reefs to depths of 45 metres (148 ft), where it can grow to lengths of 10 centimetres (3.9 in).[1][5] It is expected to feed on small crustaceans, similar to other seahorses. This species is ovoviviparous, with males carrying eggs in a brood pouch before giving birth to live young. Individuals are sexually mature at around 6.5 centimetres (2.6 in).[5] Major threats to this species could be habitat loss, through coastal development and pollution, and overexploitation through bycatch.[1] Some other threats include human use by drying out the seahorse for traditional medicine or as a curio.

Some distinctive characteristics include dark spots, one on the top of the coronet or crown of the seahorse's head and some on the dorso-lateral surface of the seahorse. It has a prominent spine above its eye in both the female and male specimen.

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Pollom, R. (2017). "Hippocampus camelopardalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T10064A100939136. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T10064A100939136.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
2. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
3. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2018). "Hippocampus camelopardis" in FishBase. February 2018 version.
4. ^ Scales, Helen (2009). Poseidon's Steed: The Story of Seahorses, From Myth to Reality. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 136\. ISBN 978-1-101-13376-7. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
5. ^ a b Lourie, S.A., A.C.J. Vincent and H.J. Hall, 1999. Seahorses: an identification guide to the world's species and their conservation. Project Seahorse, London. p.214

## Further reading[edit]

* iNaturalist
* Encyclopedia of Life
* WoRMS
* iSeahorse
* IUCN Seahorse, Pipefish & Stickleback Specialist Group
* [1]

Taxon identifiers|

* Wikidata: Q2670447
* Wikispecies: Hippocampus camelopardalis
* BOLD: 66228
* CoL: 3LZKW
* FishBase: 7983
* GBIF: 5201121
* iNaturalist: 102814
* IRMNG: 11416276
* ITIS: 644914
* IUCN: 10064
* NCBI: 109278
* OBIS: 212233
* Species+: 10467
* WoRMS: 212233

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