Winged seahorse (Hippocampus alatus)

Scientific name: Hippocampus alatus Kuiter, 2001

Winged seahorse (Hippocampus alatus)

The Winged seahorse (Hippocampus alatus) is a marine fish of the family Syngnathidae.

Biology

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 15-18; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 4. Dorsal fin rays usually 17; trunk rings 11; tail rings 34-36; subdorsal spines 2-3/0-0.5,1,0-0.5, usually enlarged on 11th trunk ring; nose spine absent; spine above eye of moderate length, reaching pupil diameter; lateral head spine large, usually larger than spine above eye; coronet well developed, with 5-7 blunt spines, apex rough and rugose; upper shoulder-ring spine at gill opening; lower shoulder-ring spine low and thick, very broad when single or divided into two rounded tips; superior trunk and tail ridges with enlarged spines, forming laterally directed pairs at regular intervals with 2-3 on trunk and 3-4 on tail, greatly produced in young and least prominent in males; long and sometimes broad dermal flaps, often frilled along edges, on nape, lateral head spines, and enlarged body spines, usually attached posteriorly and just below tip; lateral line with pores on each t

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Hippocampus alatus
Family
Syngnathidae (Pipefishes and seahorses)
Order
Syngnathiformes (Pipefishes and Seahorses)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
11.7
Depth range
10–80 m (33–262 ft)
Environment
Marine; demersal; depth range 10 - 80 m
Climate
Tropical
Distribution
Western Central Pacific: northern Australia (including Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia) and southeastern Papua New Guinea. International trade is monitored through a licensing system (CITES II, since 5.15.04) and a minimum size of 10 cm applies. Formerly classified as vulnerable in the 2000 IUCN red list of threatened species.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Resilience
High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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