Recognized Hippocampus Species and Common Names
Written By: Administrator | Date Posted: June 22, 2004 | 2 Comments »The number of recognized seahorse species has grown in recent years to about 40, with more potential species being explored. Seahorses are part of the family Syngnathidae (pronounced sing-nath-i-dee), which means “fused jaw”. All seahorses belong to the genus Hippocampus. Below are the scientific name and most commonly accepted common names. Because common names can be quite confusing and vary quite a bit, it is best to always use the scientific name of a species.
| Scientific Name | Common Name |
| H. abdominalis | Pot Bellied Seahorse |
| H. algiricus | West African Seahorse |
| H. angustus | Narrow Bellied Seahorse |
| H. barbouri | Barbour’s Seahorse |
| H. bargibanti | Pygmy Seahorse |
| H. borboniesis | Réunion Seahorse |
| H. breviceps | Short Snouted Seahorse |
| H. camelopardalis | Giraffe Seahorse |
| H. capensis | Knysna Seahorse |
| H. colemani | Coleman’s Pygmy seahorse |
| H. comes | Tiger Tail Seahorse |
| H. coronatus | Crowned Seahorse |
| H. debelius | Soft Coral Seahorse |
| H. denise | Denise’s Seahorse |
| H. erectus | Lined Seahorse |
| H. fisheri | Fisher’s Seahorse |
| H. fuscus | Sea Pony |
| H. grandiceps | Big-head Seahorse |
| H. guttulatus | Speckled Seahorse |
| H. hippocampus | European Seahorse |
| H. histrix | Thorney Seahorse |
| H. ingens | Pacific Giant Seahorse |
| H. jayakari | Jayakar’s Seahorse |
| H. kelloggi | Great Seahorse |
| H. kuda | Spotted Seahorse |
| H. lichtensteini | Lichtenstein’s Seahorse |
| H. minotaur | Bullneck Seahorse |
| H. mohnikei | Japanese Seahorse |
| H. pontohi | Pontoh’s Seahorse |
| H. procerus | Emperor Seahorse |
| H. queenslandicus | Queensland Seahorse |
| H. reidi | Brazilian Seahorse |
| H. satomiae | Satomi’s Pygmy Seahorse |
| H. severnsi | Sulawesi Pygmy Seahorse |
| H. sindonis | Shiho’s Seahorse |
| H. spinosissimus | Hedgehog Seahorse |
| H. subelongatus | West Australian Seahorse |
| H. trimaculatus | Three-Spot Seahorse |
| H. tuberculatus | Knobby Seahorse |
| H. whitei | White’s Seahorse |
| H. zebra | Zebra Seahorse |
| H. zosterae | Dwarf Seahorse |
Note: Seahorse genetics is just beginning to be fully understood, and as a result, seahorse taxonomy is constantly changing. If you see anything in error, please let us know.
Hippocampus barbouri
References:
Hall Heather J., Lourie Sara A., & Vincent Amanda C.J. 1999. Seahorses: An Identification Guide to the World’s Species and Their Conservation. Project Seahorse.
Kuiter Rudie H. 2000. Seahorses, Pipefishes and Their Relatives. TMC Publishing.
Updated May 18, 2009
what seahorse breed changes colour most and has the most wide variety of coloours which it changes???
September 7th, 2009 at 9:25 pmHmm. That’s tough to say. All seahorse can change colors, and of the seahorses that are brightly colored, they can just as easily decide to be a drab brown. H. reidi (the Brazilian seahorse) is consider to be one of the more colorful species. H. barbouri, H. angustus, H. ingens, and H. subelongatus are all also often very colorful.
September 10th, 2009 at 8:09 am