Big-head Seahorse
Hippocampus angustus
- Usual depth8–63 m
- Water temperature23–29 °C
- Best monthsSeptember and October
- How commonRare
About this species
Hippocampus angustus, commonly known as the narrow-bellied seahorse, western Australian seahorse, or western spiny seahorse, is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is found in waters off of Australia, from Perth to Hervey Bay, and the southern portion of Papua New Guinea in the Torres Strait. It lives over soft-bottom substrates, adjacent to coral reefs, and on soft corals at depths of 3–63 metres (9.8–206.7 ft). It is expected to feed on small crustaceans, similar to other seahorses. This species is ovoviviparous, with males carrying eggs in a brood pouch before giving birth to live young. This type of seahorse is monogamous in its mating patterns. The males only fertilize one female's eggs for the mating season because of the population distribution. While some seahorses can be polygamous because they are denser in population, this type of seahorse is more sparsely distributed and the cost of reproduction is high. Therefore, the risk to reproduce due to predatory and distributary factors limits this breed to one mate, often finding the same mate season after season.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Narrow-bellied seahorse”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 0 records
- February: 0 records
- March: 3 records
- April: 0 records
- May: 0 records
- June: 3 records
- July: 2 records
- August: 4 records
- September: 5 records
- October: 7 records
- November: 4 records
- December: 2 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 8–63 m · Deepest record: 63 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 23–29 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Big-head Seahorse, Bighead Seahorse, Eastern Spiny Seahorse, Narrow-bellied Seahorse, Northern Spiny Seahorse, Western Australian Seahorse, Western Spiny Seahorse
Names in 3 more languages
- German
- Australisches Seepferdchen
- Spanish
- Caballito de Mar Espinoso del Este
- Simplified Chinese
- 棘海馬, 棘海马, 猬海马, 蝟海馬, 西澳海馬, 西澳海马
Other scientific names: Hippocampus erinaceus, Hippocampus grandiceps, Hippocampus hendriki, Hippocampus multispinus
Similar species
Bargibant's Pygmy SeahorseHippocampus bargibanti
- Thorny seahorse
Hippocampus histrix
- Spotted seahorse
Hippocampus kuda
- Barbour's Seahorse
Hippocampus barbouri
- Great Seahorse
Hippocampus kelloggi
- Half-spined Seahorse
Hippocampus spinosissimus
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 196 open-data records from 1929 to 2017.
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