Hippocampus abdominalis, Big-belly seahorse : aquarium

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Hippocampus abdominalis Lesson, 1827

Big-belly seahorse
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Hippocampus abdominalis   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Hippocampus abdominalis (Big-belly seahorse)
Hippocampus abdominalis
Female picture by Lourie, S.A.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Syngnathiformes (Pipefishes and seahorses) > Syngnathidae (Pipefishes and seahorses) > Syngnathinae
Etymology: Hippocampus: Greek, ippos = horse + Greek,kampe = curvature (Ref. 45335).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; demersal; non-migratory; depth range 0 - 104 m (Ref. 52034). Temperate; 24°S - 50°S, 80°E - 120°W (Ref. 52034)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Southwest Pacific: Australia and New Zealand (Ref. 115213). Occurrence in Thailand and the Philippines (Ref. 43081) needs verification.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 8.7  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 35.0 cm OT male/unsexed; (Ref. 6787); common length : 18.0 cm OT male/unsexed; (Ref. 9003)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 25-31; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 4.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in large rock pools at low tide. They remain motionless amidst seaweed. Juveniles are pelagic (Ref. 30915) or attached to drifting seaweeds (Ref. 31838). Feed on minute crustaceans (e.g. copepods and amphipods). Nocturnal (Ref. 9003). Ovoviviparous (Ref. 205). The male carries the eggs in a brood pouch which is found under the tail (Ref. 205). Seen in groups at night. Also around jetties and other man-made objects; attached to sponges and colonial hydroids in deeper water (Ref. 30915). Length measurements refer to height (= TL - head length). This is the largest seahorse species in southeastern Australia, and has more dorsal fin rays and tail rings than any other seahorse (Ref. 31838). Sold locally and internationally for the aquarium trade (Ref. 31838). Dried and sold to the Oriental medicine trade as a tonic and aphrodisiac (Ref. 5316, 34026).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Several subsequent broods are carried by the male in a brood pouch during the spawning season. Do not obviously pair, as other seahorses do (Ref. 30915). Fertilised eggs deposited by females in the pouch of males are incubated for about four weeks before hatching (Ref. 31838). Hatching occurs at night, coinciding with full moon periods during summer months (Ref. 31838). Young emerge from the pouch and immediately rise to the surface where they grasp floating debris with their tail (Ref. 31838).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Lourie, S.A., R.A. Pollom and S.J. Foster, 2016. A global revision of the seahorses Hippocampus Rafinesque 1810 (Actinopterygii: Syngnathiformes): taxonomy and biogeography with recommendations for further research. Zootaxa 4146(1):1-66. (Ref. 115213)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 19 August 2016

CITES


CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
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Ecology
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Common names
Synonyms
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Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
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Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
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Length-weight
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Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
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Larvae
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 14.1 - 19.8, mean 17 °C (based on 322 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00447 (0.00177 - 0.01127), b=3.00 (2.78 - 3.22), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.4   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (tm=1; Assuming annual Fec<1000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 61.4 [38.8, 114.6] mg/100g; Iron = 0.447 [0.279, 0.744] mg/100g; Protein = 17.8 [16.8, 18.9] %; Omega3 = 0.543 [0.315, 0.933] g/100g; Selenium = 15.8 [7.9, 37.3] μg/100g; VitaminA = 9.31 [3.19, 26.90] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.702 [0.518, 0.958] mg/100g (wet weight);