One of the 2 seahorses on WAnimals
Bony fish · Syngnathiformes · Syngnathidae
Spotted Seahorse
Hippocampus kuda
It faces a high risk of extinction in the wild over the medium term. See full glossary
Size
up to 30 cm
Diet
Carnivore
Feeds mainly on other animals.
Activity
Diurnal
Active mainly during the day.
Social structure
In pairs
Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.
Sighting difficulty
Moderate
Fun facts
- It is the male that carries the young: the female deposits the eggs in his belly pouch with an ovipositor and he broods them and gives birth to fully formed offspring.
- Births tend to coincide with the full moon and also depend on the monsoon and the water temperature.
- It forms monogamous pairs through the breeding cycle, and the female may deposit a new clutch on the very day the previous brood is born.
Life cycle & biology
- Habitat & environment
- Seagrass meadows, algal bottoms and muddy slopes in estuaries and reefs of the Indo-Pacific, between 0 and 68 m though almost always above 8 m
- Size at birth
- About 7 mm
- Sexual maturity
- Length at first maturity 14 cm
- Gestation / incubation
- The male broods the eggs in his ventral pouch for between 20 and 28 days
- Litter / clutch size
- From 20 to 1,000 eggs in the pouch; 100-200 young per brood is usual
Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocampus_kuda
Where to find it
See its range on the interactive mapWhere to watch it
Parques y spots de buceo donde se ha documentado esta especie — se muestran 20 de 149 documentados.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Spotted Seahorse — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
VulnerableGrayfish
Alopias vulpinus
Blacktip Reef Shark
Carcharhinus melanopterus
Sailfish
Istiophorus platypterus
VulnerableSilky Shark
Carcharhinus falciformis
VulnerableSperm Whale
Physeter macrocephalus
VulnerableLeatherback Sea Turtle
Dermochelys coriacea
How to help
The spotted seahorse is classified as vulnerable. Organizations such as UICN, WWF y Wildlife Conservation Society work specifically on its conservation and that of its habitat; looking into their programs is a good starting point if you want to get involved.
It's documented in 14 real protected areas — part of why protecting these places matters for its conservation.
Keep exploring
Based on what we already know about spotted seahorse.
Comments
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