A new species of seahorse has been discovered in the northern Pacific Ocean, near Japan and the Korean Peninsula.
Coloration of fresh specimens: Hippocampus haema (left), H. coronatus (center), and H. sindonis (right). Image credit: Han et al, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.712.14955.
Seahorses are small marine fishes in the genus Hippocampus.
They belong to the family Syngnathidae, which also includes pipefish and sea dragons.
There are more than 140 named species of seahorses spread all over the world in shallow tropical and temperate waters.
The newfound species, named the Korean seahorse (Hippocampus haema), is only known from the Korea Strait, western Kyushu, and East/Japan Sea.
“This new species can be found along the southern and southeastern coasts of the Korean Peninsula (from Soan Island to Ulsan),” said Dr. Jin-Koo Kim of Pukyong National University and co-authors.
“It can also be found along the western coast of Kyushu (western Kagoshima Prefecture) and the northwestern coast of Honshu (from Kyoto Prefecture to Akita Prefecture).”
Distribution of Hippocampus haema (red circles; the filled red circle indicates the holotype), H. coronatus (green triangles), and H. sindonis (blue squares; the filled blue square indicates the holotype). Image credit: Han et al, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.712.14955.
The Korean seahorse lives in floating Sargassum and weeds on shallow soft bottom habitats from 0-59 feet (0-18 m) depth.
It measures between 2 and 4.5 inches (5-11.5 cm) in length, has a bony body, a prehensile tail, and double gill openings.
“Head and trunk folded at approximately right angle; snout elongated and fused; pelvic and caudal fins absent,” the scientists said.
“Often flat and smooth skin covering armor-plated body; coronet turned back on top; several skin filaments on body.”
“Several colors when fresh: black, white, orange, yellow, magenta, claret, brown, grey with black, red, or white stripe, and frostlike whitish or grey striations along prominent trunk and tail rings.”
“No particular sexual dimorphism except for male brood pouch.”
The evidence for the distinct seahorse species in the northern Pacific Ocean is outlined in the journal ZooKeys.
_____
S-Y Han et al. 2017. Seahorses of the Hippocampus coronatus complex: taxonomic revision, and description of Hippocampus haema, a new species from Korea and Japan (Teleostei, Syngnathidae). ZooKeys 712: 113-139; doi: 10.3897/zookeys.712.14955
