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Vol. 42 No. 2, 2003
A New Pygmy Seahorse, Hippocampus
denise (Teleostei: Syngnathidae), from the Indo-Pacific
Sara
A. Lourie1,* and John E. Randall2
1Project
Seahorse, Department of Biology, McGill University, 1205 Avenue Dr
Penfield, Montréal, Québec H3A 1B1, Canada
2Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice St., Honolulu, Hawaii
96817-2704, USA. Tel: 1-808-8484130. Fax: 1-808-8478252. E-mail:
jackr@hi.net
Sara A.
Lourie and John E. Randall (2003) A new species of pygmy
seahorse, Hippocampus denise,
is described from Indonesia. It is distinguished from other seahorse
species by its diminutive size, the possesion of a low number of tail
rings (28-29), 10-11 pectoral-fin rays, 14 dorsal-fin rays, a rounded
nuchal plate without a raised coronet, a snout length 30% in head
length, a snout without a bulbous tip, the inferior and ventral trunk
ridges reduced to disconnected star-shaped ossifications, the limited
number of tubercles on the body, the plain orange body color, and males
with eggs and embryos contained within the trunk region. Further
specimens from Vanuatu and Palau, in addition to photographs and other
observations by the senior author, suggest that this species may be
relatively widespread in the West Pacific Ocean. It is recorded from
depths of 13-90 m in association with gorgonian seafans identified as Annella reticulata (Ellis and
Solander, 1786), Muricella
sp. Verrill, 1869, and Echinogorgia
sp. Kölliker, 1865. Comparisons are made with H. bargibanti Whitley, 1970, and H. minotaur Gomon, 1997.
Key words: New
species, Taxonomy, Marine, Hippocampus
bargibanti, Distribution.
*Correspondence: Tel: 1-514-3988306. Fax: 1-514-3985069.
E-mail: slouri@po-box.mcgill.ca
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