Species information & identification guides

• List of seahorse species

• A revised taxonomy of seahorses was published in 2017 based on the best available genetic, morphological and geographic information at that time. This set of 41 species, along with three species identified since its publication, is being proposed to CoP18 as the Nomenclature Standard Reference for this genus. [Lourie, S.L., Pollom, R.A. and S.J. Foster. 2017. A global revision of the seahorses Hippocampus Rafinesque 1810 (Actinopterygii: Syngnathiformes): Taxonomy and biogeography with recommendations for further research. Zootaxa 4146(1):001–066.]

• New species:

  • Short, G., Smith, R., Motomura, H., Harasti, D., & H. Hamilton. 2018. Hippocampus japapigu, a new species of pygmy seahorse from Japan, with a redescription of H. pontohi (Teleostei, Syngnathidae). ZooKeys (779): 27.

  • Han, S. Y., Kim, J. K., Kai, Y., & H. Senou. 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.

  • Zhang, Y. H., Qin, G., Wang, X., & Q. Lin. 2016. A new species of seahorse (Teleostei: Syngnathidae) from the South China Sea. Zootaxa 4170(2): 384-392.

• Simplified ID guide for Southeast Asian Seahorses. (Available in Bahasa Indonesian, English, Khmer, Simplified Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese) 

• ID Guide for Large Seahorses in Southeast Asia. (Available in English, Malay, Simplified Chinese and Thai)

• ID Guide for Seahorses of the Americas (available in English and Spanish)

• ID Guide for Eastern Atlantic Seahorses (Available in English)

• Original Guide to the Identification of Seahorses (Lourie, S.A., S.J. Foster, E.W.T. Cooper, and A.C.J. Vincent. 2004. A Guide to the Identification of Seahorses.  CITES Technical Manual. ISBN 0953469301, now superseded by Lourie et al, 2017).

Seahorse distribution

• Map of Global Seahorse Distribution

• iSeahorse - additional resources on seahorses. iSeahorse is a community science tool for seahorse science and conservation. Anyone, anywhere in the world who sees a seahorse in the wild can contribute towards improving our understanding of seahorse behaviour, species ranges, and the threats seahorses face.

Life history and ecology

• Foster, S.J. and A.C.J. Vincent. 2004. Life history and ecology of seahorses: implications for conservation and management.  Journal of Fish Biology 65(1):1-61.