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Longsnout seahorses are ambush predators, meaning that they sit and wait for prey rather than going out to hunt for them. They typically eat small marine crustaceans such as shrimp and plankton. Only feeding during light hours, these seahorses will use their long snout to suck live prey into their mouths.
Longsnout seahorses are very poor swimmers and rely on camouflage and bony plates that cover most of their bodies to avoid predation. Like other seahorses, the longsnout seahorse’s tail is highly maneuverable, and it uses this tail to attach itself to seagrasses, mangrove roots, sponges, soft corals, or other places where it hides.
The longsnout seahorse ranges from black to yellow, red, orange and brown with multiple white dots usually on the tail. This seahorse likes shallow coastal waters from 1 to 20 m (3 to 66 ft) deep. It occurs close by Posidonia and eelgrass meadows or in mixed habitat with sandy bottom and rocks with algae.
- Description
- Classification
- Habitat and Distribution
- Feeding
- Reproduction
- Conservation and Human Uses
- Sources
As you could guess, longsnout seahorses have a long snout. They have a slender body that can grow up to about 7 inches in length. On top of their head is a coronet that is low and convoluted. These seahorses may have brown and white dots over their skin, which is a variety of colors, including black, yellow, red-orange, or brown. They may also have...
Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum:ChordataClass:ActinopterygiiOrder:GasterosteiformesLongsnout seahorses are found in the western North Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina to Brazil. They are also found in the Caribbean Sea and Bermuda. They are found in relatively shallow water (0 to 180 feet) and are often attached to seagrasses, mangroves, and gorgonians or among floating Sargassum, oysters, sponges, or man-made structures. Femal...
Longsnout seahorses eat small crustaceans, plankton, and plants using their long snout with a pipette-like motion to suck in their food as it passes by. These animals feed during the day and rest at night by attaching to structures in the water such as mangroves or seagrasses.
Longsnout seahorses are sexually mature when they are about 3 inches long. Like other seahorses, they are ovoviviparous. This seahorse species mates for life. Seahorses have a dramatic courtship ritual in which the male may change color and inflate his pouch and the male and female perform a "dance" around each other. Once courtship is complete, th...
The global population of the species is listed as near-threatened on the IUCN Red Listas of an October 2016 assessment. One threat to this seahorse is harvest for use in aquariums, as souveniers, as medicinal remedies, and for religious purposes. They also are caught as bycatchin shrimp fisheries in the U.S., Mexico, and Central America and are thr...
Bester, C. Longsnout Seahorse. Florida Museum of Natural History.Lourie, S.A., Foster, S.J., Cooper, E.W.T. and A.C.J. Vincent. 2004. A Guide to the Identification of Seahorses. Project Seahorse and TRAFFIC North America. 114 pp.Lourie, S.A., A.C.J. Vincent and H.J. Hall, 1999. Seahorses: an identification guide to the world's species and their conservation. Project Seahorse, London. 214 p. via FishBase.Project Seahorse 2003. Hippocampus reidi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2.Jan 1, 2024 · The longsnout seahorse was originally described by Ginsburg as Hippocampus reidi in 1933. Synonyms found in scientific literature referring to this species include H. obtusus (Ginsburg 1933) and H. poeyi (Howell Riviero 1934). This fish belongs to the family Syngnathidae which includes pipefish and leafy sea dragons.
On top of that, Longsnout seahorses are ambush predators, so they need target feedings. They need to eat 2-3 times daily. Their complex eating behavior makes caring for them quite challenging. Apart from that, Longsnout seahorses are wonderful fish. They’re slow and peaceful. They get along well with friendly fish and other seahorse species.
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(Lourie et al., 1999). The holdfasts used by the longsnout seahorse provide them with shelter from strong tidal currents, camouflage from predators, and is also used during feeding and courtship (Dias and Rosa, 2003). These seahorses are frequently found from 15-55m below the
