Featured observation: Slender seahorse by kbodle

This week’s feature observation takes us to the sunny southern Caribbean. kbodle managed to snag this great pic of the slender seahorse, Hippocampus reidi in the coastal waters of Bonaire, an island nation off the Venezuelan coast.

The slender seahorse is a fairly large species, growing to a height of about 17cm. It ranges from North Carolina in the USA all the way to Brazil in South America. Pictured in association with a sponge here, these seahorses have also been known to hang out around gorgonian corals, seagrasses, mangroves and seaweed. They typically form monogamous pair bonds with their mate.

The IUCN Red List describes the slender seahorse as being Data Deficient, so there is much left to be learned about the species.

Thanks to kbodle for helping us to further our knowledge of this interesting fish!

Posted on April 30, 2014 06:58 PM by projectseahorse