Hippocampus pontohi

Pontohi hippocampus, the mind can recognize the centrally positioned gill - outlet opening.

Pontohi hippocampus is a small seahorse from the " bargibanti species complex". It occurs on the coasts of Sulawesi, and was found at a depth of eleven to 25 meters among other things, at Bunaken, Lembeh Strait, at Wakatobi, and at Sorong in the far west of New Guinea Vogelkop Peninsula.

Features

Hippocampus pontohi is 16 to 17 mm long and is usually of yellow-brown color, but there is also added to off-white copies. Some have a red back. Its hull is protected by twelve, the tail 26 to 28 bone rings. The dorsal fin has 14 fin rays, the pectoral fins nine to ten. The anal fin is small or missing. The muzzle is short and not thickened at the end. The gill openings are merged to form a single outlet opening which is centered at the back.

Way of life

Hippocampus pontohi lives in calcareous Halimeda and on the hydroids Aglaephenia cupressina. It is usually found in pairs and relatively agile for a seahorse of " bargibanti species complex ". Two specimens collected each contributed eleven embryos in her abdomen. It is possible that the hippocampus pontohi how other seahorses of " bargibanti species complex " also viviparous.