A family of fishes with a body encased in a hard armour. This means that they use the dorsal fin as a means of propulsion. The seahorses use the dorsal fin exclusively for swimming and the pipefishes use it for slow movements, with the pectoral fin vibrated to keep the fish steady, but the pipefish are able to wriggle their long slim bodies (the extent varies between species) to escape predators.

In this family only, the males incubate the eggs in a groove or a fold, and in the seahorses they are kept within a brood pouch.

The family usually inhabit the shallow seas, but some live deeper than 30 metres, and a few species are pelagic
(i.e. live in the surface waters of the open ocean).

NEW BOOK

Seahorses

Conservation and Care

t.f.h./Kingdom 1997 £7.95

Neil Garrick-Maidment runs the Seahorse Nature Aquarium in Exeter, (now moved to the National Aquarium at Plymouth), and he passes on his knowledge of keeping and breeding them in captivity in this small book. The most important snippet of information is on page 15 when it says that adult seahorses eat about 40 mysid shrimps a day.

"Every year, huge numbers of seahorses die in aquaria as a result of the lack of accurate information on
how to keep them. This book redresses the balance by giving a comprehensive account of how to care for
these most difficult of marine fish, but also stresses the need for conservation in the wild".

Feeding live food to seahorses is more likely than not to be an insurmountable problem for the home aquarist, and anybody wishing to keep this fish will need to buy this book. If you are just interested in these fascinating fish the 48 page book contains information not published elsewhere.
 

Full Book Review

Spiny Seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus (=H. ramulosus)

Photograph by Robert Jones (Trowbridge, Wiltshire, U.K.)

Pipefishes and Seahorses

Family Syngnathidae

British Species

Greater Pipefish, Syngnathus acus. Very common, widespread.
Aquarium Study of the Greater Pipefish

Lesser Pipefish, Syngnathus rostellatus. Very common, widespread.

Deep-snouted Pipefish, Syngnathus typhle. Local, frequent.

Straight-nosed Pipefish, Nerophis ophidion. Local, uncommon on the shore.

Worm Pipefish, Nerophis lumbriciformis. Very common in the south and west only. Unknown from the east coast.

Snake Pipefish, Enterulus aequoreus. Uncommon, west coast only, frequent in some areas.

Spiny Seahorse, Hippocampus ramolosus. Rare in English Channel, Dorset and western approaches only.
Now  Hippocampus guttulatus

Short-nosed Seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus. Occasionally found in deep water around the Channel Islands. Extremely rare, probably absent elsewhere. Also recorded off the coast of Holland in 1998. This species is found in deep water off the Sussex coast, notably off Southwick, near Shoreham-by-Sea.

British Pipefish
BMLSS SEAHORSE PAGE
Feeding Pipefishes:  Mysids
Leafy Sea Dragon (MLSSA List of Photographs of Australian Marine Fish)

Seahorse Park - Facts & Figures

List of the World's Seahorses

Articles on British Pipefish by Jim Hall (Swansea) in the Vernal 1995 and Vernal/Summer 1997 issues of Glaucus.

Reports
 

16 March 2020
A female Short-snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus, was washed ashore dead on the Camber Sands on the Sussex coast. This rare stranding may indicate an offshore population.

Illustrated Report by Margaret Kidd on Rockpooling & Shrimping (British Isles) facebook
 

---

26 April 2012
A second seahorse has turned up because of the gales in Poole Harbour in Dorset/Hampshire. Dave Hartwell of the Water Spots Academy found the mature 15 cm female Spiny Seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus, washed up on the beach. He had the quickness of thought to put her into a bucket, which saved her life. He then contacted the National Trust Studland Beach, as a direct result of the article about the seahorse found on Knoll Beach (Studland) which was recorded in the Bournemouth Echo in April 2012, to find out what to do. because seahorses are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (as a direct result of lobbying and hard work of the trust volunteers) it is illegal to kill, disturb or take seahorses from the wild, so Dave under guidance from the trust took a few picture (without flash, which is illegal) of the seahorse against a ruler, so we could get an accurate measurement of her and then put her back into the sea, into a sheltered spot so she would not wash up again.
Thanks to Dave this is a very lucky seahorses and his actions have directly helped the local population of Spiny Seahorses.

Report by Neil Garrick-Maidment on facebook & Seahorse Trust News
Conservation Designations for UK Taxa
Seahorse Trust
Project Seahorse

7 October 2011
A juvenile Short-snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus, was discovered in the River Thames at Greenwich. This discovery suggest a breeding population.

BBC News Report


25 May 2010
Spiny Seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus (=H. ramulosus)
Spiny Seahorses are spotted in Studland Bay, Dorset.

Pregnant Male Spiny Seahorse at Studland Bay on facebook (by Neil Garrick-Maidment)
Seahorses Photo Album on Facebook (by Neil Garrick-Maidment)

17 - 19 January 2010
After some easterly swells a dead Short-snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus, was discovered on a beach near Dawlish, south Devon.

Report and Photograph by Ben Hersey


7 September 2009
Dozens of Short-snouted Seahorses, Hippocampus hippocampus, have been born at an aquarium in East Sussex.
The tiny seahorses, which are difficult to rear in captivity, are part of a nationwide breeding scheme.
They were born at Hastings Blue Reef Aquarium, where keepers are having to feed them three times a day on live food and carry out daily water changes. Spokeswoman Jo Cole said they were being kept in nursery tanks and would not be put on display until they were out of special care.

BBC News Report


24 April 2008
A Short-snouted Seahorse*, Hippocampus hippocampus, was discovered on the filtration plant at Shoreham Harbour. It was alive when found but died shortly afterwards. (*assumed to be this species)

Report by Peter Talbot-Elsden
Sussex Marine Life Reports

26 February 2008
The Angel Shark, Squatina squatina, Short-snouted Seahorses, Hippocampus hippocampus, and Spiny Seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus (=H. ramulosus), will gain protection against being killed, injured, or taken from the wild from 6 April 2008 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
In addition, the possession or selling of the the Short-snouted and Spiny Seahorses’ will become an offence. It will also become an offence to damage or obstruct the Short-snouted and Spiny Seahorses’ place of shelter or disturb them in their place of shelter.

DEFRA Press Release


12 February 2008
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Seahorses and Pipefish in the North Sea
Scientific Seminar, three speakers
Venue:  Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London
Free admission for the talks
Booking in advance only for the dinner
Contact: Joy Hayward

Abstracts
 

22 January 2008
 

A dead Short-snouted Seahorse*, Hippocampus hippocampus, was discovered by Craig Vernoit on Brighton Beach just to the east of Brighton Marina amongst tonnes of timber from the Greek-registered Ice Prince, which sank about 26 miles (42 km) off Dorset after a storm on 15 January 2008. (*probable ID)

March 2007
Fishermen out of Shoreham Harbour (Sussex) continue to capture a handful of the Short-snouted Seahorses, Hippocampus hippocampus, in the nets on every trip out. They are all returned to the sea.
 

 

23 September 2006
We dived in Brighton Marina in the same area (near the entrance) that the adult Short-snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus, was discovered in June, and over a period of a few hours we spotted about a dozen juvenile Seahorses ranging in size from 10 to 25 mm. They were not all found together. This looks as if there is a population breeding in the marina.

Report by Dr Gerald Legg (Booth Museum)

Seahorses
Photographs by Michelle Legg
 

All Seahorses are a protected species in British seas and collection for whatever reason is illegal.


My basset dog found a Short-snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus, just east of Splash Point (east of Worthing Pier) on Worthing beach. Although it was dead and slightly smelly, it was intact. The Seahorse was found at high tide. 


Report & Photograph by Mark Hyadon


1 August 2006
Another Short-snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus, was discovered washed up on the strandline, near Brighton Pier (=Palace Pier) by beginning of Volk’s Railway (TQ 315038). The discoverer was a Mr J Chapman.

Report by Dr Gerald Legg (Booth Museum)


c. 8 June 2006
A Sea Horse, Hippocampus sp., was spotted and collected in a bucket by Edward Wilson (aged 8) near the entrance of the outer harbour of Brighton Marina, Sussex. The adult fish of an estimated height of 150 mm (6 inches) was seen to swim away in a healthy condition. The identification was confirmed by a photograph. Sea Horses were regarded as rare from the seas off Sussex until this year.

Report by Patrick Wilson


28 April 2006
An extremely interesting report of three Sea Horses, Hippocampus hippocampus* reported by Southwick (West Sussex) fishermen; the fishermen say they are the first caught for several years and other fishermen are reporting them in their fixed nets several miles offshore. The identity of these fish has not been verified personally, but Sea Horses are known to be rarely captured from the Sussex coast.
(*The species, one of two, is not known.)

Hearsay Report by Peter Talbot-Elsden
Later confirmed hearsay by Andy Horton

Seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus, washed up on the beach at Felpham (near Bognor Regis) West Sussex in late March 2006.   Photograph provided by Dee Christensen (Nature Coast Project)

30 October 2004
A Whiting was caught on rod and line four miles out of Brighton, Sussex, and it promptly regurgitated a Seahorse, Hippocampus sp. Seahorses are not known off the Sussex coasts, although I have received at least one unconfirmed sighting before. This is probably the Short-snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus.  (It is usually the shallow water species Hippocampus guttulatus that has been recorded off the Dorset coast.)

Report by Dr Gerald Legg (Booth Museum) from Jan Light (Conchological Society)
BMLSS Seahorse Page
Seahorse Trust
Seahorse Survey


Trailer (Link)

June 2004
A pregnant male Seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus, was discovered and photographed in Poole Bay, Dorset. This is the first recorded instance of a pregnant Seahorse in the northern English Channel and anywhere in the seas surrounding the British Isles and is therefore the first confirmed instance of successful breeding, which has long been suspected. Discharge of the young into the shallow sheltered ways of Poole Bay seemed imminent.

Report and Photograph by Steve Trewhella (Poole, Dorset)
BMLSS Seahorses
 

2002

Late November 2002
A Short-snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus, is captured by an oyster fisherman in the Solent. In Victorian times, there are records from off Dorset and the Solent.
 

Late August 2002
Three specimens of the Short-snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus, were discovered about 95 miles east of the Solent in the English Channel. They were picked up during DEFRA sponsored fish habitat studies by the University of Wales Bangor research vessel Prince Madog. Each came up in separate gear deployments, though at a single sampling station. On UWTV the benthic biotope where they came from was seen to be sand with a dense bed of tube worms, Lanice conchilega. All three seahorses were "pregnant" males.

Report by Ivor Rees

There is a record of a Seahorse from Mevagissey being swallowed by a Goldsinny Wrasse .

1 November 2001
There have been further reports of Short-snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus, from around the Channel Islands. Fisherman Steve Ryall hauled them up in his nets together with Lumpsuckers and large Soles over 3 kg in weight. The Seahorses were returned alive. Lobster and crab fisherman Andy Egre reports catching two large Seahorses in his pots about a mile and a half off Rozel in 30 metres of water in an area of strong tides.

Report by Nicolas Jouault
via the Marine Wildlife of the North-east Atlantic Ocean Group
27 September 2001
A commercial fisherman, Rick Ferbrache, caught a 63 mm (2.5 inch) long brown Short-snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus,  in a parlour crab pot while fishing 1.5 miles north west of Pembroke off Guernsey's north coast.  Approximate location 49 degrees 31.7 North & 2 degrees 33.3 West.
Report by Richard Lord (Guernsey)
2 April 2001
A Swanage lobster fisherman has just caught his second Seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus (=H. ramulosus), this week - the first was smooth, the second very fluffy! Seahorses have been reported from Weymouth Bay and the Fleet in Dorset and there are anecdotal reports of seahorses from Studland eelgrass beds, but about 20 years ago.
Report by Peter Tinsley, Dorset Wildlife Trust
via Marine Wildlife of the North-east Atlantic Ocean Group
• 10 November 1999
• A Seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus, was caught in gill nets about one mile south of Guernsey in about 10 metres of water. The seahorse capture was in another net set along another part of the south coast of Guernsey at 49° 25.06' N and 2° 33.41' W.  This capture was near rocks called Pecheresse to the east of Icart Point.

• The Sea Horse, Hippocampus hippocampus, was recorded off the Netherlands coast in the late nineties.

 
Between 21 and 26 September 1998
One fisherman caught around 120 Seahorses, Hippocampus hippocampus (in total) in 5 days time (5 hauls) close to the Belgian coast.  Given the fact that these small fish are rather unconspicuous between other bycatch organisms and debris, it might well be that more were caught in the net and discarded, and also that a number came loose during the hauling of the net (given the mesh size, the animals must have been attached by the tail to the net or bryozoan colonies caught in the net).
Report from Jan Haelters
via Doug Herdson (National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth)
on the Marine Wildlife of the North-east Atlantic Ocean Group

• February:  3 specimens of the Sea Horse, Hippocampus hippocampus,  caught in deep water, over 30 metres, off Jersey by lobster fishermen. These attractive small fish are regularly caught during the winter.

The report and photograph was received by Sue Daly from Jersey. The Sea Horses have found a home at the National Aquarium in Plymouth.

• On 14 February 1997, William Falla, caught a Sea Horse. Hippocampus hippocampus, at a depth of about 55 metres south of St. Martins Point, Guernsey. This specimen was recovered alive and housed in a home aquarium.

• On 13 February a female Sea Horse, Hippocampus hippocampus, was caught by Mark Blondel fishing for spider crabs in 60 metres (200 ft) 8 to 10 miles SE of St. Martins Point, Guernsey. See other reports of seahorses in Channel Islands seas below.

• On 30 January 1996, a Short-nosed Sea Horse, Hippocampus hippocampus, was caught by an Alderney fisherman in a lobster trap. This is the rarer of two seahorses recorded in the English Channel and is caught with some frequency in deep water (over 30 metres) around the Channel Islands. One individual was caught off Jersey a week before, and another one just before Christmas off Alderney. There are 13 records from off Jersey for 1995. The latest specimen was returned to the sea. Information from Richard Lord (Guernsey). More information held.

The Marine and Estuarine Fishes of Wales shows confirmed records of the Seahorse Hippocampus guttulatus (=H. ramulosus) in north Cardigan Bay, Pembrokeshire and the Severn Estuary! I would be extremely interested to hear from you if you find any!!!

You could also try looking in the Seagrass beds at Port Dinllaen (which appear to survive being in a mooring area so I can't see a few divers causing any damage). Also Shell Island just south of Harlech could be a good shore dive for looking for them - very shallow and weedy, quite interesting at times but varies too.

Thanks.

Paul Kay BSc FRPS - Marine Wildlife Photo Agency
Photography - underwater & above!
http://www.marinewildlife.co.uk 

The other suborder in the Order is the Aulostomoidei.
I think the Snipefish, Macrorhamphosus scolopax, is included in this Order.
In the books the Syngnathidae are usually placed after the Dories (Zeiformes) and before the Sticklebacks (Gasterosteiformes).
However, this may have changed recently. AH 2000
 

Marine Fish
Marine Life News
Older Pamphlet on Seahorses
Public Aquaria DataBase (UK)

Seahorse Page
 
 

MARINE WILDLIFE  of the NE ATLANTIC EFORUM PAGE (LINK TO)