Species Overview

Slender Seahorse (H. reidi)
Longsnout seahorse; H.obtusus; H. poeyi

Essential Facts

Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Brazil; Columbia; Cuba; Grenada; Haiti; Honduras; Jamaica; Mexico; Nicaragua; Panama; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Caribbean territories); United States of America; Venezuela
Typically found at 15–55 m depth; mangrove roots, seagrass, macro algae, oysters, cnidarians, sponges, tunicates, artificial structures in estuaries; gorgonian coral; some on stone coral
Maximum recorded adult height: 17.5 cm
Mexican populations are listed in the NOM-059-SEMARNAT- 2001 as species subject to special protection; Mexico prohibits the intentional capture and trade of wild seahorses, permitting only the commercialisation of cultured and incidentally caught seahorses
Data Deficient (DD)
Males have longer tails than do females.

Slender Seahorse (H. reidi)

 

Mexican populations of H.reidi are listed as species subject to special protection.

 

 

Life history

Maximum reported height at onset of sexual maturity 8 cm; found in pairs in the wild; egg

diameter averages 1.2 mm; length at birth averages 7 mm; maximum reported brood size 1572

 

Conservation status

The entire genus Hippocampus is listed in Appendix II of CITES, effective May 2004. H. reidi is listed as Data Deficient by IUCN. Mexican populations are listed in the NOM-059-SEMARNAT- 2001 as species subject to special protection; Mexico prohibits the intentional capture and trade of wild seahorses, permitting only the commercialisation of cultured and incidentally caught seahorses

 

Similar species

• H. algiricus is found off West Africa

• H. erectus has a deeper body; white lines on the head and neck; and a wedge-like or triangular coronet, with sharp edges or spines

• H. kuda is found in the Indo-Pacific basin