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🌊 Marine 🌡️ Tropical

Monte Bello seahorse

Hippocampus montebelloensis Kuiter, 2001
Max Length
-
Max Weight
-
Lifespan
-
Trophic Level
3.4
Depth
-
Climate
Tropical
Resilience
High
Vulnerability
12.00/100
Typical Length
-
Depth Zone
pelagic

📖 Overview

Found on the continental shelf . Holotype caught at the surface, clinging to Sargassum fragment . Maximum length is based on a straight-line length measurement from upper surface (ignoring spines) of first trunk ring, to tip of tail . Ovoviviparous . The male carries the eggs in a brood pouch which is found under the tail .

Scientific Name
Hippocampus montebelloensis
Authority
Kuiter, 2001
Habitat
Marine
Climate
Tropical
Body Shape
Other
Trophic Level
3.4
Resilience
High
Vulnerability
12.00/100
Migration
Non-migratory
Salinity
30–40 ppt

🐟 Physical Description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 18 - 19. Trunk rings 11; tail rings 37; subdorsal spines 3/0,1,0; spine above eye of moderate size, length about pupil-diameter, slightly angled back; moderately large and recurving lateral head spine; long, forward-directed nape spine; nose profile straight; coronet moderately high, with spines on corners, posterior 3 largest and directed backward; 3 spines of moderate size on shoulder ring, uppermost and central spines at end of pectoral-fin base, lowermost ventrally; superior trunk ridge with spines of small to moderate size on rings 1, 4, 7 and 11, extended by long dermal flaps at spine tips in holotype; superior tail ridge similar to superior trunk ridge, with enlarged spines at regular intervals, becoming progressively smaller posteriorly .: other.

🌀 Behaviour

Behavioural data for Monte Bello seahorse is currently being reviewed.

🦐 Diet

aquatic invertebrates
small fish
algae
detritus

🥚 Reproduction

🐣 Oviparous 📦 Batch Spawner
Spawning Season
spring-summer
Spawn Location
Pelagic
Fertilization
External

Male carries the eggs in a brood pouch .

🌍 Habitat & Distribution

Marine; pelagic-neritic; non-migratory. Tropical known only from Monte Bello Islands and Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia.

🌿 Ecology

Zone Preferences
🌊 Marine 🐟 Pelagic
Migration
Non-migratory
Trophic Level
3.4±0.4

📐 Morphometrics

Length–Weight Relationship: W = 0.00447 × L3 (TL)
Dorsal Rays
19

🌡️ Water Parameters & Tolerance

Salinity Range
30–40ppt

📊 Population Risk & Fisheries

Population Resilience
High
Minimum doubling time
Fishing Vulnerability
12.00/100
Low vulnerability
Trophic Level
3.4
Predator
Body Shape
Other
Climate Zone
Tropical
Described By
Kuiter, 2001

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