Skip to content

Shorthead Seahorse Hippocampus breviceps Peters, 1869
[CAAB 37 282026]

Distribution Map see an interactive map here (new window)

The Shorthead Seahorse is a small, well-camouflaged species often congregates in small groups comprising a number of pairs.

Distribution, ecology and habitat:

Endemic to temperate southern Australian waters from the South Australian gulfs to the Bass Strait region of Victoria and Tasmania, and south to Port Arthur, Tasmania; absent from eastern Victoria and Western Australia; benthic, from subtidal depths to about 15 m; usually found in shallow seagrass beds or amongst macro-algae (Cystophora and Sargassum spp.) on sheltered coastal reefs in protected bays and estuaries; occasionally live in sponge gardens in deeper areas. The species is most common in Port Phillip Bay where it aggregates in algal weed patches near sandy areas.

Size:

Height to 100 mm.

Food and feeding:

The Shorthead Seahorse feeds close to the sand or rubble during the day, preying mostly on small crustaceans such as mysid shrimps .

Reproduction and early life history:

Reproduction: Sexes separate, reproduction a form of viviparity or ovoviviparity, whereby the males give birth to tiny independent young. The female uses an ovipositor to transfer her eggs into an elaborate enclosed pouch under the abdomen of the male. The male not only fertilizes the eggs inside the pouch and provides physical protection for the developing embryos, he also osmoregulates and aerates the embryos and may provide some nourishment until the offfspring are born. Breeds in summer and individuals do not form socially monogamous pairs. Males may brood eggs from several females at the same time and the young are born after an incubation period of about 25 days. Males studied in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, remained in relatively small areas and appeared to give birth at night. Unlike some other seahorse species, adults live in mixed-sex groups and unlike a number of other seahorse and pipefish species, do not undertake daily social rituals.
Eggs: Females produce 50 to 100 eggs per brood; egg diameter 1.6 mm.
Larvae: Pelagic larvae are morphologically similar to adults at birth; they cling to each other or floating weed at the surface. In Port Phillip Bay during the summer months near the full moon, young are seen in large numbers clinging to floating bits of weed on outgoing tides. Juveniles settle out at about 25 mm.

Characteristics:

Meristics: D 19-22; A 4; P 14-15; trunk rings 11; tail rings 38-42; subdorsal rings 3-5.
Head and body: Body small, slender and elongate, rather fleshy, often with fleshy tendrils on head and over back, appendages longer in males; trunk deep; snout moderately short, longest in juveniles, moderately shallow; strong constriction between head and trunk; body covered with thick, fleshy skin.
Spines and tubercles: Spines absent; fleshy tubercles few or reduced, best-developed along dorsal-fin base and over superior tail ridge; subdorsal spines 3-4/0,0,1,1 or 3-4/0,0,1,0.
Coronet: Coronet distinctly raised, with a fleshy covering; apex rounded with up to 5 fleshy filaments, one usually at centre.
Lateral line: Lateral line distinct with large pores on rings just above lateral ridge on trunk, continuing onto tail to about 20^th tail ring; each pore usually with several papillae.

Colour:

In life, overall drab grey to bright yellow-orange with mix of numerous small black spots and black-ringed white ocelli over much of the trunk and the anterior part of the tail; ventral surface of tail with pale bars; dorsal fin with 2 darkish longitudinal bands. In preservative - mainly cream to pale brown with dark spots on head and ocelli in the form of tiny dark circles mixed with dark spots on head and trunk.

Similar species:

Similar to juvenile H. abdominalis, which have more trunk rings.

Fisheries:

The species is reared commercially for the Australian and international aquarium trade.

Conservation Status:

International: Listed under Appendix II of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES).
Listed as Data Deficient on the 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened species.
Australian legislation: Marine Listed under the Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act 1999).  The species is subject to the export controls of the Commonwealth Wildlife Protection (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1982.

State Government Legislation: Listed as Protected Aquatic Biota in Victoria.

The Tasmanian Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995 prohibits the take of all syngnathids in Tasmania by non-permit holders.

Remarks:

H. breviceps is the smallest seahorse species in southern waters, where it is preyed upon by many fishes and the Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor).

Other common names:

Short Snouted Seahorse, Short-head Seahorse, Shortsnout Seahorse, Short-snouted Seahorse, Knobby Seahorse.

Original citation:

Hippocampus breviceps, Peters, 1870. Mber. K. preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berl. 1870: 710. Adelaide, South Australia.

Etymology:

From the Greek, ippos = horse and kampe = curvature. The specific name breviceps is from the Latin brevis meaning short and -ceps from the Latin caput meaning head, refering to the short head of this species.

References:

Edgar, G.J. 1997. Australian Marine Life. Reed, Kew, Victoria, Australia, 544 pp.

Foster, S.J. & A.C.J. Vincent. 2004. Life history and ecology of seahorses: implications for conservation and management. J. Fish Biol. 65: 1-61.

Gomon M.F., C.J.M. Glover & R.H. Kuiter (eds.) 1994. The fishes of Australia's south coast. Adelaide: State Print, 992 pp.

Hoese, D.F., D.J. Bray, J.R. Paxton & G.R. Allen. 2006. Fishes. In Beesley, P.L. & A. Wells. (eds.) Zoological catalogue of Australia. Volume 35. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing: Australia Part 1, 2178 pp.

Kendrick, A.J. & G.A. Hyndes. 2003. Patterns in the abundance and size distribution of syngnathid fishes among habitats in a seagrass-dominated marine environment. Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci. 57: 631-640.

Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-Eastern Australia. Crawford House, Bathurst, NSW, 437 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland Press, Frenchs Forest, NSW, 434 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Seahorses, Pipefishes and their Relatives. Chorleywood, UK: TMC Publishing, 240 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. 2001. Revision of the Australian seahorses of the genus Hippocampus (Syngnathiformes: Syngnathidae) with descriptions of nine new species. Rec. Aust. Mus. 53: 293-340.

Last, P.R., E.O.G. Scott, & F.H. Talbot. 1983. Fishes of Tasmania. Tasmanian Fisheries Development Authority, Hobart, 563 pp.

Lourie S.A., A.C.J. Vincent & H.J. Hall. 1999. Seahorses: an identification guide to the world's species and their conservation. Project Seahorse, London, UK, 214 pp.

Martin-Smith, K.M. & A.C.J. Vincent. 2006. Exploitation and trade of Australian seahorses, pipehorses, sea dragons and pipefishes (Family Syngnathidae). Oryx, 40(2): 141-151.

Morgan, S.K., Pogonoski, J.J., Pollard, D.A. & Paxton, J.R. 2006. Hippocampus breviceps. In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <http://www.iucnredlist.org/>. Downloaded on 09 April 2009.

Moreau, M.-A. & A.C.J. Vincent. 2004. Social structure and space use in a wild population of the Australian short-headed seahorse, Hippocampus breviceps Peters 1869. Mar. Freshwat. Res. 55: 231-239.

Neira, F.J., A.G. Miskiewicz & T. Trnski. 1998. Larvae of temperate Australian fishes: laboratory guide for larval fish identification. University of Western Australia press, Nedlands, Western Australia.

Peters, W. 1869. Über neue oder weniger bekannte Fische des Berliner Zoologischen Museums. Monatsb. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1869: 703-711.

Pogonoski, J.J., D.A. Pollard & J.R. Paxton. 2002. Conservation Overview and Action Plan for Australian Threatened and Potentially Threatened Marine and Estuarine Fishes. Canberra, Environment Australia, 375 pp.