Australian Biological Resources Study

Australian Faunal Directory

Species Hippocampus angustus Günther, 1870

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CAAB: 37282077

Species Hippocampus angustus Günther, 1870

Western Spiny Seahorse, Big-head Seahorse, Bighead Seahorse, Eastern Spiny Seahorse, Northern Spiny Seahorse, Western Australian Seahorse

 

Introduction

Lourie et al. (2016) synonymised several, previously recognised, species under this name. They indicated that genetic studies did not support multiple species, but then suggested names that might be used if some were shown to be distinct. While they noted no significant morphological differences with species described by Kuiter (2001), they did not address some of the characters used by Kuiter (2001), such as ridges on the trunk rings and various spines. Kuiter (2001) regarded H. angustus restricted to Western Australia between the Dampier Archipelago and Shark Bay. He described three species as new: Hippocampus grandiceps from the Queensland coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Hippocampus hendriki ranging from Cape York to the Capricorn region of Queensland and Hippocampus multispinus from the Dampier Archipelago to the Northern Territory and Papua New Guinea. Larson et al. (2013) subsequently recorded H hendriki from Darwin. Lourie et al. (2016) indicated that only minor genetic differences were detected in some of the forms examined. They also suggested that if more than one species was involved, that H. erinaceus would have priority over Kuiter's species, but gave no reason to support that. Tentatively we follow Lourie et al. (2016), but note that additional work is needed on this complex.

 

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia


Extra Distribution Information

Shark Bay, WA (25°57`S) to E of Agnes Water (24º11'S), QLD; tropical, New Guinea

Australian Endemic.


IBRA and IMCRA regions (map not available)

IMCRA

Northern Shelf Province (25), Northwest Shelf Transition (26), Northwest Shelf Province (27), Central Western Shelf Transition (28), Central Western Shelf Province (29), Northeast Shelf Province (40), Northeast Shelf Transition (41)

Other Regions

Torres Strait Islands terrestrial, marine & freshwater

Distribution References

Ecological Descriptors

Algal beds, inshore.

Extra Ecological Information

0-60m

 

General References

Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls. [72]

Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls. [46] (as angustatus)

Coleman, N. 1980. Australian Sea Fishes South of 30ºS. Lane Cove, NSW : Doubleday Australia Pty Ltd 309 pp. [89]

Foster, S.J. & Vincent, A.C.J. 2004. Life history and ecology of seahorses: implications for conservation and management. Journal of Fish Biology 65: 1-61

Fritzsche, R., Matsuura, K., Collette, B., Nelson, J., Dooley, J., Carpenter, K., Bartnik, S., Robinson, E., Sorensen, M. & Morgan, S.K. 2010. Hippocampus hendriki. In: IUCN 2014. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1.. http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/155100/0

Gomon, M.F. 1997. A remarkable new pygmy seahorse (Syngnathidae Hippocampus) from south-eastern Australia, with a redescription of H. bargibanti Whitley from New Caledonia. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 56(1): 245-253 [250]

Hutchins, J.B. 2001. Checklist of the fishes of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 63: 9-50 [27]

Hutchins, J.B. & Swainston, R. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete field guide for anglers and divers. Perth : Swainston Publishing 180 pp. [40]

IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011.1. www.iucnredlist.org

Jones, A.G., Kvarnemo, C., Moore, G.I., Simmons, L.W.& Avise, J.C. 1998. Microsatellite evidence for monogamy and sex-biased recombination in the Western Australian seahorse Hippocampus angustus. Molecular Ecology 7(11): 1497-1505 [1497]

Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. Sydney, NSW, Australia : New Holland Publishers xvii, 434 pp. [72]

Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Seahorses, Pipefishes and Their Relatives. Chorleywood, UK : TMC Publishing 240 pp. [34]

Kuiter, R.H. 2001. Revision of the Australian Seahorses of the genus Hippocampus (Syngnathiformes: Syngnathidae) with descriptions of nine new species. Records of the Australian Museum 53: 293-340 [335]

Kuiter, R.H. 2009. Seahorses and their relatives. Seaford, Australia : Aquatic Photographics pp. 331. [96] (and as H. grandiceps, H. hendriki and H. multispinus)

Lourie, S.A., Vincent, A.C.J. & Hall, H.J. 1999. Seahorses. An identification guide to the world's species and their conservation. Project Seahorse. x 214 pp. [73]

McCulloch, A.R. 1929. A check-list of the fishes recorded from Australia. Part I. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 5: 1–144 [96]

Munro, I.S.R. 1961. Handbook of Australian fishes. Nos 1–42. Australian Fisheries Newsletter 15–17, 19, 20: 1-172 [published as separates 1956–1961] [91] (635, in part)

Neira, F.J., Miskiewicz, A.G. & Trnski, T. 1998. Larvae of temperate Australian fishes: laboratory guide for larval fish identification. Nedlands, Western Australia : University of Western Australia press 474 pp.

Paulus, T. 1999. Family Syngnathidae. pp. 2264-2276 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 4 pp. 2069-2790. [2269]

Paxton, J.R., Gates, J.E., Hoese, D.F. & Bray, D.J. 2006. Syngnathidae. pp. 810-846 in Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & Allen, G.R. Fishes. In, Beesley, P.L. & Wells, A. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 35. Volume 35 Australia : ABRS & CSIRO Publishing Parts 1-3, 2178 pp. [825] (and as H. grandiceps, H. hendriki and H. multispinus)

Paxton, J.R., Hoese, D.F., Allen, G.R. & Hanley, J.E. (eds) 1989. Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Pisces: Petromyzontidae to Carangidae. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 7 665 pp. [421]

Pognoski, J.J., Pollard, D.A. & Paxton, J.R. 2002. Conservation Overview and Action Plan for Australian Threatened and Potentially Threatened Marine and Estuarine Fishes. Canberra : Environment Australia 375 pp. (and as H. grandiceps, H. hendriki and H. multispinus)

Project Seahorse 2002. Hippocampus angustus. In: IUCN 2014. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1.. http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41004/0

Whitley, G.P. 1964. A survey of Australian Ichthyology. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 89(1): 11-127 [38] (540, in part)

 

History of changes

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
27-Jul-2017 SYNGNATHIFORMES 19-Jun-2017 MODIFIED Dr Doug Hoese Dr Matthew Lockett
25-Jun-2015 SYNGNATHIFORMES 19-Jun-2014 MODIFIED Dr Dianne Bray (NMV) Dr Doug Hoese (AM) Dr Matthew Lockett (AM)
27-Jul-2010 MODIFIED