So far only a single specimen of Hippocampus histrix has been found at Kwajalein, and apparently, in the entire Marshall Islands, although it is known to be widespread in the Indo-Pacific. The Kwaj animal was found on 18 June 2012 moving among isolated Halimeda plants on a sandy lagoon reef at a depth of about 6m. It blended in quite well with its algae surroundings. This is one of our favorite dive sites; the Halimeda algae gets thicker towards the lagoon slope and is home to many interesting animals. We spend enough time here that if these seahorses were anything but extremely rare, we would have found them before now. Several references indicated this species could occasionally be pelagic, accompanying drifting debris. Possibly that is how this one ended up here, by dropping off its raft as it passed over the reef. Although the species can reach 170mm in length, ours was rather small and appeared to measure only about 50mm with its tail still curled.
Hiding in the algae, the seahorse wraps its tail around the plant stalk.
Created 19 June 2012