Tiger Tail Seahorse

Hippocampus comes is a species of fish in the Syngnathidae family. It is found in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Description

Its maximum size is 18.7 cm. Its snout is 2.2 in head length; it is used to suck up food. It eats small fish, coral, small shrimp, and plankton. The most common pattern is alternating yellow and black. The tail has stripes from the belly to the tip of the tail. It lives from 0-1.5 years in captivity and in the wild, 1-5 years. It is harmless. It doesn't have scales as fish do, it has more like hard thin skin stretched out around bony rings on their bodies. It swims upright, not horizontally.

Distribution

The tiger tail sea horse lives in Western Central Pacific: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. These sea horses are normally found in pairs on coral reefs, sponge gardens, kelp, or floating Sargassum.

Habitat and biology

Its natural habitats are subtidal aquatic beds and coral reefs. It is threatened by habitat loss.

The male carries the eggs in a brood pouch on their chest which holds from 1 - 2,000 eggs and the pregnancy takes from 1 to 4 weeks. It is also used for traditional Chinese medicine. Seahorse populations are thought to have been endangered in recent years by over fishing and habitat destruction. The seahorse is used in traditional Chinese medicine, and as many as 20 million seahorses may be caught each year and sold for this purpose. Import and export of seahorses has been controlled under CITES since May 15, 2004.