Species Fact Profile: Pot-Bellied Seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis)

                                                     Pot-Bellied (Big-Bellied) Seahorse

                                                       Hippocampus abdominalis (Lesson, 1827)

Range: Southeast Australia (including Tasmania), New Zealand.  Reports from Thailand and the Philippines unconfirmed

Habitat: Rocky reefs and shallow waters, estuaries, usually among algae and sea grasses.  Usually found at less than 50 meters deep, but sometimes at 100 meters.  Juveniles are pelagic

Diet: Small aquatic crustaceans, such as copepod

Social Grouping: Largely asocial outside of breeding groups

Reproduction: Reproduction occurs year round, but peaks in the warmer months.  Sexually mature at about 1-year-old (as early as 4 months).  Courtship consists of changing colors and postures, male inflating and opening and closing his stomach pouch, fins fluttering.  Aggregations of females may compete for the attention of a single male.  If she is receptive, she will change colors to match him.  Females transfer their eggs to the males, squirting them into the opening at the front of his pouch.  Males may brood 300-700 young at a time, with up to 4 broods per season.  Eggs from a single brood will be from a single female, with the male going to different females between broods.  Hatching occurs at night, usually at the full moon, 4-5 weeks after transfer.  Young immediately emerge from the pouch and float to the surface, grabbing debris with their tails

Lifespan: 3-6 Years

      Conservation Status:  IUCN Least Concern, CITES Appendix II

• One of the largest of sea horses, measuring up to 35 centimeters long (usually about 18 centimeters).  Largest in Australia.  Forward-tilted body with long-snouted head, narrow pot-bellied body (sometimes called the pot-bellied seahorse), and long, coiled tail.  Low, triangular coronet on top of the head.  Small dorsal fin.
• Coloring is a variable shade of brown (sometimes reddish or whitish), mottled with yellow-brown with some dark patches.  Tail circled with yellow bands.  Can change color to take on color of surroundings.  Those in deeper waters tend to be more brightly colored
• Males differ from females in having a soft, pouch-like area at the base of the abdomen, where stomach meets the tail.  Females have pointier stomach with more prominent fin at the base     
• Primarily forage at night, spending days in hiding in sea grasses or sponges.  Feed by sucking small organisms into tubular snout
• Genus name Hippocampus from the Greek for “Curved Horse.”  Species name abdominalis refers to enlarged, prominent abdomen.  It’s been suggested by some authorities that this species is actually two separate species – H. abdominalis and H. bleekeri, based on differences in head size, snout length, and the number of spines. 
• Dried specimens sometimes sold as traditional medicine or as an aphrodisiac in Asia.  Also popular in the aquarium trade. Sustainable harvesting allowed, sometimes caught as commercial bycatch.

·