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Barbour's seahorse (''Hippocampus barbouri'') is a species of fish of the family Syngnathidae.


Habitat

''Hippocampus barbouri'' is found in
seagrasses Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...
and shallow waters off the coasts of the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, and
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. Individuals have been recorded at a maximum depth of . The Barbour's Seahorse is native to Indonesia (Bali, Jawa, Kalimantan, Sulawesi), Malaysia (Sabah), and the Philippines. Habitats include
seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...
beds, mangrove swamps,
estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
, and muddy areas.


Population

Records show a 30% decline in the ''H. barbouri'' population over the past 10 years, which has continued to increase due to over fishing and the destruction of seagrass habitats. Exact numbers are unknown but percentage estimates can be made using fishing records. ''H. barbouri'' is classified as Vulnerable by the 2017 IUCN red list assessments. They were first put on the Red list in 1996. Respondents at various levels of trade (including fishers, buyers, wholesalers, retailers, exporters and officials) in 1998 and 1999 in Malaysia reported declines in seahorse numbers and availability and that ''H. barbouri'' was one of the most common species traded.


Feeding and identification

The Barbour's seahorse feeds on small
shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...
,
crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...
, calanoid
copepods Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthic (living on the ocean floor), a number of species have p ...
and decapod
larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...
, but has also been known to ingest the larvae of polychaetes and fish. Individuals have well developed spines such as their sharp eye, nose, and double cheek spine. The longest and broadest of the spines is its first dorsal spine. Its tail is relatively short in proportion to its body and has a series of long and short spines along it. They range in color from white to yellow to greenish gray to light brown, and some may have some reddish-brown spots or lines. The males usually grow to an average length of where females average at . It is often confused with the hedgehog seahorse, ''Hippocampus histrix''.


Reproduction

This species is
ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a term used as a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparous and live-bearing viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develop insi ...
, with males carrying eggs before giving birth to live young. The female deposits her eggs into the male's brood pouch. Through the pregnancy the pair strengthens their pair bonds with daily greetings. The gestation period for ''H. barbouri'' is 12–14 days, with a typical brood size of about 10–240 offspring. They give no parental care to juveniles after birth. Pairs mate
monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a form of Dyad (sociology), dyadic Intimate relationship, relationship in which an individual has only one Significant other, partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (Monogamy#Serial monogamy, ...
ly, and may mate many times in a single season.


Predation

''Hippocampus barbouri'' are most vulnerable during the
juvenile Juvenile may refer to: *Juvenile status, or minor (law), prior to adulthood *Juvenile (organism) *Juvenile (rapper) (born 1975), American rapper * ''Juvenile'' (2000 film), Japanese film * ''Juvenile'' (2017 film) *Juvenile (greyhounds), a greyho ...
stage. They use crypsis as a mechanism for survival. The spiny texture of its skin and coloration allow it to camouflage itself among the
corals Corals are marine invertebrates within the class (biology), class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important C ...
they associate with.


Aquaculture

These seahorses are widely traded for traditional medicines and aquarium trading. This, along with the fact that their habitat it being destroyed, has caused their population size to continuously decrease.


Naming

The
specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
honours the
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
and herpetologist
Thomas Barbour Thomas Barbour (August 19, 1884 – January 8, 1946) was an American herpetologist. From 1927 until 1946, he was director of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) founded in 1859 by Louis Agassiz at Harvard University in Cambridge, Ma ...
1884–1946.


References


Further reading

* Pollom, R. 2017. ''Hippocampus barbouri''. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017:e.T40802A54906903. http://oldredlist.iucnredlist.org/details/40802/0 * Payne, M. F. (2003). Rearing the coral seahorse, ''Hippocampus barbouri'', on live and inert prey. ''Marine Ornamental Species: Collection, Culture & Conservation'', 289–296. * Lourie, S. A., Green, D. M., & Vincent, A. C. J. (2005). Dispersal, habitat differences, and comparative phylogeography of Southeast Asian seahorses (Syngnathidae: ''Hippocampus''). ''Molecular ecology'', 14(4), 1073–1094. * Perez-Oconer, E. (2002). Reproductive biology and gestation of the male seahorse, ''Hippocampus barbouri'' (Jordan and Richardson 1908) (Doctoral dissertation, PhD thesis, University of the Philippines, Quezon City, Philippines). * Foster, S J. 2016. Seahorses (''Hippocampus'' spp.) and the CITES Review of Significant Trade. Fisheries Centre Research Reports 48(8): 48 pp. * Foster, S.J. and Vincent, A.C.J. 2004. Life history and ecology of seahorses: implications for conservation and management. ''Journal of Fish Biology'' 65: 1–61. * Giles, B.G., Truong, S.K., Do, H.H. and Vincent, A.C.J. 2006. The catch and trade of seahorses in Vietnam. ''Biodiversity Conservation'', pp. 2497–2513. * Hou, F., Wen, L., Peng, C. and Guo, J. 2016. Identification of marine traditional Chinese medicine dried seahorses in the traditional Chinese medicine market using DNA barcoding. ''Mitochondrial DNA Early View'': 1–6. * IUCN. 2017. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2017-3. Available at: www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 7 December 2017). * Lawson, J M., Foster, S.J. and Vincent, A.C.J. 2017. Low bycatch rates add up to big numbers for a genus of small fishes. Fisheries 42(1): 19–33. * Lim, A.C.O., Chong, V.C., Wong, C.S. and Choo, C.K. 2011. Diversity, habitats and conservation threats of syngnathid (Syngnathidae) fishes in Malaysia. ''Tropical Zoology'' 24: 193–222. * Lourie, S.A. 2016. ''Seahorses: A Life-Size Guide to Every Species''. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 160 pp. * Lourie, S.A., Pollom, R.A. and Foster, S.J. 2016. A global revision of the seahorses Hippocampus Rafinesque 1810 (Actinopterygii: Syngnathiformes): Taxonomy and biogeography with recommendations for future research. ''Zootaxa'' 4146(1): 1–66. * Lourie, S.A., Vincent, A.C.J. and Hall, H.J. 1999. Seahorses: an identification guide to the world's species and their conservation. Project Seahorse, London, U.K. * Marcus, J.E., Samoilys, M.A., Meeuwig, J.J., Villongco, Z.A.D. and Vincent, A.C.J. 2007. Benthic status of near-shore fishing grounds in the central Philippines and associated seahorse densities. ''Marine Pollution Bulletin'' 54(9): 1483–1494. * Morgan, S.K. 2007. The ontogoenetic ecology and conservation of exploited tropical seahorses. Department of Biology, McGill University. * O'Donnell, K.P., Pajaro, M.G. and Vincent, A.C.J. 2010. How does the accuracy of fisher knowledge affect seahorse conservation status? ''Animal Conservation'' 13(6): 526–533. * Perante, N.C., Pajaro, M.G., Meeuwig, J.J. and Vincent, A.C.J. 2002. Biology of a seahorse species ''Hippocampus'' comes in the central Philippines. ''Journal of Fish Biology'' 60: 821–837. * Short, F.T., Polidoro, B., Livingston, S.R., Carpenter, K.E., Bandeira, S., Bujang, J.S., Calumpong, H.P., Carruthers, T.J.B., Coles, R.G., Dennison, W.C., Erftemeijer, P.L.A., Fortes, M.D., Freeman, A.S., Jagtap, T.G., Kamal, A.H.M., Kendrick, G.A., Kenworthy, W.J., Nafie, Y.A.L., Nasution, I.M., Orth, R.J., Prathep, A., Sanciango, J.C., van Tussenbroek, Vergara, S.G., Waycott, M. and Zieman, J.C. B., 2011. Extinction risk assessment of the world's seagrass species. ''Biological Conservation'' 144(7): 1961–1971. * UNEP-WCMC. 2012a. CITES trade statistics derived from the CITES Trade Database. UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK. * UNEP-WCMC. 2012b. Review of Significant Trade: Species selected by the CITES Animals Committee following CoP15. * UNEP-WCMC. 2016. CITES Trade Database. Cambridge, UK. Available at: http://trade.cites.org/ (accessed 2016) * Vincent, A.C.J. 1996. The International Trade in Seahorses. TRAFFIC International, Cambridge, UK. * Vincent, A.C.J. and Sadler, L.M. 1995. Faithful pair bonds in wild seahorses, ''Hippocampus whitei''. ''Animal Behaviour'' 50: 1557–1569. * Vincent, A.C.J., Evans, K.L. and Marsden, A.D. 2005. Home ranges of the monogamous Australian seahorse, ''Hippocampus whitei''. ''Environmental Biology of Fishes'' 72: 1–12. * Vincent, A.C.J., Foster, S.J. and Koldewey, H.J. 2011. Conservation and management of seahorses and other Syngnathidae. ''Journal of Fish Biology'' 78: 1681–1724. * Vincent, A.C.J., Sadovy, Y.J., Fowler, S.L. and Lieberman, S. 2013. The role of CITES in the conservation of marine fishes subject to international trade. ''Fish and Fisheries'' 41. * Williams, S.L., Janetski, N., Abbott, J., Blankenhorn, S., Cheng, B., Crafton, R.E., Hameed, S.O., Rapi, S. and Trockel, D. 2014. Ornamental marine species culture in the Coral Triangle: seahorse demonstration project in the Spermonde Islands, Sulawesi, Indonesia. ''Environmental Management'' 54(6): 1342–1355.


External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2673554 Hippocampus (genus) Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Taxa named by Robert Earl Richardson Fish described in 1908 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot