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POT-BELLY SEAHORSE

Hippocampus abdominalis, Lesson 1827, Pot-belly Seahorse, Potbelly Seahorse,

Pot-belly Seahorse, Potbelly Seahorse.

For the relationship of the Seahorse Species Profile to other southern Australasian seahorses see

Seahorse "Species Key" and "Meristics Table" for Southern Australasia

Hippocampus abdominalis - photo Graham Short

 

Synonym: Hippocampus bleekeri, Fowler 1908, Australian Pot-belly Seahorse, Australian Pot-Belly Seahorse, Australian Pot-belly Seahorse.

 

Molecular methods have shown H. bleekeri is the same species as H. abdominalis as  there are no significant differences between their Ccytochrome b sequences (Armstrong 2001).  The 'Meeting of the Nomenclature Committee' of the 'Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Fauna and Flora' 19th August 2003, adopted Lourie et al. (1999) as the standard taxonomy for the genera Hippocampus.  Lourie et al. (1999) considers  H. bleekeri as a synonym of H. abdominalis.

 

Pot-belly seahorse - photo taken at Audubon Aquarium by Robert BrownePot-belly seahorse photo taken by Robert Browne  

 

We are revising the taxonomy and the biology of the seahorses of southern Australasia to assist their conservation.

 

Description: 35.0 cm (Project Seahorse 2004) Hippocampus abdominalis are distinguished as adults because of a pot-belly in both the males and the females.  They also grow quite large, 33 cm (Kuiter 2000); 25 cm (Scott et al 1980); 25.4 cm (Waite 1933); "a single male from the Coorong 140 mm.  McCulloch also records two specimens from Investigator Straight" (Waite and Hale 1908). 

 

Range: New Zealand to Venus Bay, western South Australia (Inshore Fish Group 2006); Australia, New Zealand (Project Seahorse 2004); As H. bleekeri South-eastern Australia including Tasmania and northern New Zealand (Kuiter 2000). As H. abdominalis southern New Zealand (Kuiter 2000); South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania (Scott et al 1980);  (South Australia sic.) extending to New South Wales, Tasmania, and New Zealand (Waite 1933); New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania (Waite and Hale 1908).

 

Distribution:  Shallow sub-tidal to at least 35 meters in depth Bruckner et al (2005). 

 

Habitat: Found on substrates that provide shelter and holdfasts including sponges or bryozoans  (review, Pogonoski et al 2002; Bruckner et al 2005) and in South Australia seagrass beds (McDonald, B., unpublished data).

 

Reproduction: 400 eggs (Kuiter 2000).  The young are pelagic and have been found floating attached to bits of seagrass or macroalgae (review, Pogonoski et al 2002; Bruckner et al 2005).

 

References:

Armstrong, P. (2001) Genetic and morphological variation in Pot-bellied Seahorses (Hippocampus abdominalis): Is there evidence for two species? B.Sc. (Hons.) thesis, University of Tasmania.

     Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Seahorses, Pipefishes and their Relatives. A Comprehensive Guide Syngnathiformes. TMC Publishing Pp. 240.  

Lourie, S.A., S.J. Foster, Cooper, E.W.T., A.C.J. Vincent. 2004. A guide to the identification of seahorses. Project Seahorse and TRAFFIC North America.  Washington D.C.  University of British Columbia and World Wildlife Fund.

Scott, T.D., C.J.M. Glover, R.V. Southcott. 1980. The Marine and Freshwater Fishes of South Australia.  Government Printer. South Australia.

Waite, E.R. 1923. The Fishes of South Australia. Government Printer. South Australia.

Waite, R.R., H.M. Hale. 1908. Review of the Lophobranchiate Fishes (Pipe-fishes and Sea-horses) of South Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia. 32:298-299.