Smooth Seahorse, Hippocampus kampylotrachelos Bleeker 1854

Tropical Western Pacific from Sumatra, Bali and Ashmore Reef; benthic on muddy substrates in very sheltered estuaries, or in deep coastal waters, in 3-10 m.

Meristic features: Dorsal fin 19; Anal fin 4; Pectoral fin 16; trunk rings 11; tail rings 39; subdorsal rings 2 + 1.
Dorsal profile of head evenly concave to tip of snout; snout about half head length.
Head angled at more than 45°, nasal profile without spine, gradually curving onto snout with no obvious inflection; upward directed nape-spine; subdorsal 3/0,1,0, lower spine enlarged and obvious; body tubercles small to moderate along dorsal and lateral ridges, but enlarged and pointed at regular intervals, especially at dorsal-fin base and along superior tail ridges, gradually becoming smaller on tail.
Coronet low, directed backwards, with 5 blunt diverging spines in a star at apex.

Height to at least 22 cm

Overall dusky brownish grey to almost black, covered with fine white and black spots and scribbles, especially on head where these form a pattern radiating from eyes and lines along lower part of operculum; dorsal fin with two longitudinal lines, one marginally and one centrally.

Like other seahorses, this species presumably feeds by sucking small crustaceans and other planktonic organisms into its mouth.

Males give birth to tiny independent young. The female uses an ovipositor to transfer her eggs into an elaborate enclosed pouch under the abdomen of the male. The male not only fertilizes the eggs inside the pouch and provides physical protection for the developing embryos, he also osmoregulates and aerates the embryos and may provide some nourishment until the offfspring are born.
Eggs: Not described.
Larvae: Not described.

None. There is no known trade in this species in the aquarium or Asian Traditional Medicine industries.

International: Listed under Appendix II of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). As a result, the species is subject to the Convention, http://www.cites.org/.
Listed (as a synonym of H. trimaculatus) as Data Deficient on the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened species. http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/10087/summ
Australian Government Legislation: Marine Listed under the Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act 1999). http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/species/marine.html

H. kampylotrachelos is known from very few specimens and is regarded as a synonym of H. trimaculatus by some authors.

None

Hippocampus is from the Greek ippos = horse and kampe = curvature. The specific name kampylotrachelos is from the Greek kampe meaning caterpillar and trachelos meaning neck.

Hippocampus kampylotrachelos Bleeker 1854, Nat. Tijdschr. Ned. Ind. 7: 107, Priaman, Sumatra, Indonesia.

Vanessa J. Thompson & Dianne J. Bray