Pygmy Seahorse
Hippocampus bargibanti
Sighting evidence at Great Astrolabe Outer Wall, Kadavu Island
Photo: Julian Hsu · CC BY-NC
Bargibant's pygmy seahorses are found exclusively on gorgonian sea fans of the genus Muricella, to which they are perfectly colour-matched in either pink-red or yellow-orange forms depending on their host fan. These tiny fish, under 2.5 cm fully grown, spend their entire adult lives on a single fan, and are so cryptic that the species was discovered by accident when a fan was collected and examined in the lab. Their low mobility and extreme host specificity makes them vulnerable to any disturbance of the fan coral habitat on the wall.
Evidence at this site
No confirmed records on file at this site
Pygmy Seahorse is listed as a curated species here based on historical reports.