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Tiny Hippocampus denise

May 15, 2003 — The smallest known species of seahorse has been found in Indonesian waters, a tiny creature no bigger than a fingernail.

Full-grown members of the species, called Hippocampus denise, are usually 16 mm long. Marine biologists knew about the animals, but mistook them for juveniles of another of the 32 known species of seahorses.

The next smallest seahorse, H. bargibanti, averages 24 mm long.

Visit Project Seahorse to learn more about the species. A Kingdom of Coral Life on the Reef Stories from the Past News Archives

According to marine biologist Sara Lourie, a member of the University of British Columbia-based Project Seahorse marine conservation team who discovered the species, "Compared with other small seahorses, they're active little creatures."

Although seahorses are under threat from fishing, the new species' very habitat may be protecting it from over-exploitation, a UBC press release said. Hippocampus denise lives in deeper water, mostly attached to sea fans. The color of the fans camouflage the creatures almost perfectly.

However, the species has only been spotted a handful of times, so Lourie warned that it's hard to know just how threatened they could be. Heavy-duty trawling gear can flatten reefs — one potential threat.

And, Lourie said, "Divers and photographers could possibly love these animals to death."

Lourie worked with John Randall of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, to describe the new species. Their research appears in the current issue of the journal Zoological Studies.

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