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Spotted seahorse

Hippocampus kuda

  • Fish
  • IUCN: Vulnerable
  • Usual depth1–73 m
  • Water temperature14–30 °C
  • Best monthsJanuary, May, and November
  • How commonOccasional
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About this species

Hippocampus kuda is a species of seahorse, also known as the common seahorse, estuary seahorse, yellow seahorse or spotted seahorse. The common name sea pony has been used for populations formerly treated as the separate species Hippocampus fuscus, now a synonym of H. kuda.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Hippocampus kuda”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

  • January: 33 records
  • February: 14 records
  • March: 5 records
  • April: 3 records
  • May: 22 records
  • June: 5 records
  • July: 9 records
  • August: 12 records
  • September: 9 records
  • October: 5 records
  • November: 29 records
  • December: 16 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–73 m · Deepest record: 183 m

  • 0–10 m: 16 records
  • 10–20 m: 6 records
  • 20–30 m: 7 records
  • 30–40 m: 2 records
  • 40–50 m: 1 records
  • 50–60 m: 3 records
  • 60–70 m: 0 records
  • 70–80 m: 2 records
  • 80–90 m: 0 records
  • 90–100 m: 0 records
  • 100–110 m: 0 records
  • 110+ m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–30 °C

  • 12–14 °C: 1 records
  • 14–16 °C: 0 records
  • 16–18 °C: 2 records
  • 18–20 °C: 1 records
  • 20–22 °C: 0 records
  • 22–24 °C: 17 records
  • 24–26 °C: 8 records
  • 26–28 °C: 15 records
  • 28–30 °C: 79 records

Names and classification

English
Spotted seahorse, Common Sea Horse, Dull Seahorse, Estuarine seahorse, Réunion seahorse, Sad Seahorse, Sea pony, Smooth Seahorse, spotted seahorse, yellow seahorse
Names in 6 more languages
German
Gelbes Seepferdchen, Gewöhnliches Seepferdchen, Krönchen-Seepferdchen
Spanish
Caballito de mar común
French
Cheval marin, Grand hippocampe, Hippocampe d'estuaire
Japanese
Kuroumiuma, クロウミウマ
Thai
ม้าน้ำดำ, ม้าน้ำมงกุฏสั้น
Simplified Chinese
庫達海馬, 海馬, 管海馬

Other scientific names: Hippocamphus kuda, Hippocampus aterrimus, Hippocampus borboniensis, Hippocampus brachyrhynchus, Hippocampus chinensis, Hippocampus fuscus, Hippocampus hilonis, Hippocampus horai, Hippocampus melanospilos, Hippocampus moluccensis, Hippocampus natalensis, Hippocampus novaehebudorum, Hippocampus obscurus, Hippocampus polytaenia, Hippocampus raji, Hippocampus rhynchomacer, Hippocampus taeniops, Hippocampus taeniopterus, Hippocampus tristis

Similar species

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).
  • 394 open-data records from 1852 to 2013.

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