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Seahorses

images of seahorses taken around the world

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Family: Syngnathidae
Order: Syngnathiformes
Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)

Seahorses are on the IUCN list of threatened species. In 2002, nine of 33 species were listed as vulnerable, with one listed as endangered. The remainder are listed as Data Deficient, which indicates that more research is needed.

Image gallery



Longsnout seahorse, Grenada	Tigertail seahorse, Lembeh Straits	Longsnout seahorse, Roatan	Thorny seahorse, Philippines	Reunion seahorse, Pemba, Mozambique	Thorny seahorse, Lembeh Straits

Unknown species in the Solomons	Thorny seahorse, Lembeh Straits	Reunion seahorse, Pemba, Mozambique	Lembeh Straits, Indonesia	Pair of Hippocampus denise, Solomons	Hippocampus denise West Papua, Indonesia

Hippocampus barbiganti, Lembeh Straits, Indonesia	Hippocampus denise Maratua, Indonesia	Hippocampus barbiganti, Philippines

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Seahorse overview:

An underwater discovery that is a delight for all divers, seahorses are sadly one of the most threatened creatures in the marine world. Adults range from minuscule pygmy seahorses to the one foot long Pacific Seahorse.

They live in both tropical and temperate waters amongst seagrasses, mangroves, corals and estuaries. Sadly, these environments are continually under threat by manmade activities and seahorse populations are in decline. Apart from the destruction to their habitats, thousands of live seahorses are collected for the aquarium trade and many more go to traditional Chinese medicines, some 200 million per year it is said. Unfortunately, seahorses are actually recognised by the World Health Organisation s providing a viable healthcare option.

The good news is that small-scale seahorse conservation initiatives have been established that recognise the needs of communities that depend on seahorses for income and medicines. Projects in the Philippines and Vietnam are experiencing initial success.