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Scientists have discovered what they claim is the world’s smallest sea horse, which is little bigger than a pea, on reefs in Indonesia.
Like other pygmy sea horses, its size and camouflage make it difficult to spot, according to scientists led by the Arizona State University. This species resembles, in texture and colour, the sea fans with which it lives. It has a pouch in which it carries its young, which are only 3 mm in length. Animal names ending in -ae honour women, in this case Satomi Onishi, a diving guide who collected the first specimen. The seahorses are a genus of fishes within the family syngnathidae, which also includes the pipefishes. There are more than 80 species of seahorse, mainly found in shallow tropical and temperate waters throughout the world. They prefer to live in sheltered areas such as seagrass beds, coral reefs, or mangroves. Seahorse populations are
said to have been endangered in the recent years due to overfishing
and habitat destruction. — PTI
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An
international team has found the hippocampus satomiae at a depth of
about 15 m on the reefs in Indonesia, from Derawan island to northern
Sulawesi and Borneo, The Observer has reported.