The West African seahorse (''Hippocampus algiricus'') is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae ( Seahorses and pipefish). It is found in the eastern central Atlantic Ocean off Angola, Benin,

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

, Ghana,

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

, Nigeria,

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe (; pt, São Tomé e Príncipe (); English: " Saint Thomas and Prince"), officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ( pt, República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe), is a Portuguese-speaking i ...

, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, as well as the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. Although there have been no records from Algeria since Guichenot said that the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

was collected at Béjaïa in the 1850s, but the location given may be an error. There is scarce information despite conservation efforts for this species. The first records of the West African seahorse at Gran Canaria Island, located in the north-east Atlantic Ocean, were confirmed by genetic and morphometric analysis. The West African Seahorse is the only recorded seahorse species in the Canary Islands. It was first videotaped in 2012. The video is part of a joint investigation between

Project Seahorse Project Seahorse is a marine conservation organization committed to the conservation and sustainable use of coastal marine ecosystems in general, and seahorses in particular. It is based at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (University ...

, Imperial College London, and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) into West Africa’s burgeoning seahorse trade. The number of seahorses exported, primarily to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

for traditional medicine, has risen sharply in the last few years to about 600,000 seahorses annually. Meanwhile, scientists know virtually nothing about their numbers, habitat, or life cycle.Project seahorse: first ever video footage of elusive West African seahorse
. Retrieved 2012-11-01. The efforts of Project Seahorse, directed by Dr.

Amanda Vincent Amanda Vincent is a Canadian marine biologist and conservationist, one of the world's leading experts on seahorses and their relatives. She currently holds the chair of the IUCN SSC Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group and is the ma ...

, resulted in the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) adopting international trade controls for seahorses in 2002. Abstract.

References

West African seahorse The West African seahorse (''Hippocampus algiricus'') is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae (Seahorses and pipefish). It is found in the eastern central Atlantic Ocean off Angola, Benin, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nige ...

Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Marine fauna of West Africa

Taxa named by Johann Jakob Kaup Traditional Chinese medicine Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Syngnathiformes-stub