Scientific Name:     Hippocampus spinosissimus       
Nomenclater:     Weber, 1913
Family:     F295  Syngnathidae
Holotype-Locality:     Sapeh Strait, Indonesia, Siboga sta. 49, 70 m.
Habitats:     Coral、Coastal     
Economic Fish:     Yes
Habitats Depth:     0 - 70 M     
Aquarium Fish:     Yes
Poisonous Fish:     No     
Edible Fish:     No
Synonyms:     Hippocampus aimei, Hippocampus arnei, Hippocampus histrix  
Reference:     Shen, S. C. , S. C. Lee, K. T. Shao, H. C. Mao, C. H. Chen, C. C. Chen, C. S. Tzeng. 1993. Fishes of Taiwan. Dept. Zool., Nat. Taiwan Univ., Taipei. xx + 960 pp., pls. 310. (in Chinese) Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2004. FishBase. World Wide Web ele  沈世傑 編 Shih-Chieh Shen ed. 1993 Lourie, S. A., A. C. J. Vincent etc. 1999  文獻
Redlist Status:     IUCN Redlist: Vulnerable(VU)  
Common Name in Engulish:     Hedgehog seahorse 
Chinese Name transliteration:     Ji hai ma
Distribution in Taiwan:     South、North East、PonFu、ShaoLiuChew
Distribution in World:     India Ocean to West Pacific Ocean
Max Lenth:      16 cm
Specimen List:      ASIZP0053856. ASIZP0055765. ASIZP0058216. ASIZP0058527. ASIZP0060785.  Download 5 records Download 5 records
Characteristic:     Rings: 11+40-41 (38-43). Snout length: 2.2 (1.9-2.4) in head length. Dorsal fin rays: 20 (18-22) covering 2+1 rings. Pectoral fin rays: 17-18 (16-19). Coronet: very low, in line with arch of neck, visible as five tiny points. Spines: low and small to slightly raised. Other distinctive characters: very sharp hook-like cheek and eye spines; quite flat in appearance; narrow head; no nose spine. Color pattern: golden orange, sandy colored or totally black; may have large dark spots on the dorsolateral surface of the first, fourth and seventh trunk ring (less visible in dark specimens, and more common in males than females); some specimens "zebra striped" in brown and white. 
Habitats:     Inhabits gravel or sand bottoms around shallow reefs; muddy estuaries and near mangroves, tolerating brackish water. 
Distribution:     Distributed in the Indo-Pacific from southern India to Japan, Australia and Tahiti. It is a common species in Taiwan except eastern part.
Utility:     International trade is monitored through a licensing system (CITES II, since 5.15.04).

Text and images are provided by The Fish Datebase of Taiwan (Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan)