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SEAHORSES |
| Underwater photography: images of seahorses taken while scuba diving Longsnout seahorse | Tigertail seahorse | Reunion seahorse | Hippocampus denise | Hippocampus pontohi |
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Seahorse image gallery... |
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| All about seahorses... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Family: Syngnathidae |
An underwater discovery that is a delight for all divers, seahorses are sadly one of the most threatened creatures in the marine world. Adults range from minuscule pygmy seahorses to the one foot long Pacific Seahorse. They live in both tropical and temperate waters amongst seagrasses, mangroves, corals and estuaries. Sadly, these environments are continually under threat by man-made activities and seahorse populations are in decline. Apart from the destruction to their habitats, thousands of live seahorses are collected for the aquarium trade and many more go to traditional Chinese medicines, some 200 million per year it is said. Unfortunately, seahorses are actually recognised by the World Health Organisation as providing a viable healthcare option. The good news is that many small-scale seahorse conservation initiatives have been established that recognise the needs of communities that depend on seahorses for income and medicines. Projects in the Philippines and Vietnam have been experiencing initial success. |
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| Seahorses encounters... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LOCATION: West Papua DIVE SITE: Pygmy Corner DEPTH: 25 metres SPECIES: Hippocampus Pontohi COMMON NAME: Weedy pygmy seahorse DIVE LOG: This small chap was first seen in Bunaken waters and as is the way, once noted, the new species seems to crop up everywhere. H. Pontohi was named for Indonesian dive guide, Hence Pontoh who discovered them. This particular chap was seen in West Papua on a late afternoon dive. He was one of a gang of 8 or 10. Unlike many pygmy seahorses, this type prefers to hang out on algae. The group was very active, propelling themselves up into the water and across the bommie to another frond. They would wait for a few moments then dance around some more. At just 10 or 12 mm long, they were a complete nightmare to photograph. |
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SPECIES NAMES | Many fish can be hard to identify as they are so similar. Common names vary and even the scientists disagree on what is what. If you can help name anything we can't, please get in touch. ORDER | Images on this page are available as prints. Take a note of the name then go to the photo order form... REFERENCE | This well laid out guide book is useful for identifying seahorse species: SEARCH SeaFocus | Looking for something on this site? Type in a few words and google will take you there... |
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