Seahorse
Seahorse · a taxonomic plot twist
Hippocampus spp. — Korean-recorded species H. haema (Hippocampus haema)
An upright-swimming pipefish-family fish. It grips sargassum, eelgrass, and coral with its prehensile tail. An icon of the seaweed beds along Korea’s South and West Sea coasts, and the subject of a taxonomic plot twist.
A pipefish that grips coral with its tail
A fish of the pipefish family (Syngnathidae) that swims upright and grips sargassum, eelgrass, and coral with its prehensile tail. It lives mainly in the seaweed beds and rocky reefs of the South and West Sea coasts.
Geomundo, a type-series record site of H. haema
Geomundo in the South Sea is introduced as a seahorse habitat alongside soft coral. A seahorse specimen found at Geomundo in 2013 was reassigned in a 2017 ZooKeys study as a type-series record of the new species H. haema.
Where to meet seahorses
All seahorse species are regulated for international trade under CITES Appendix II, and 3 species in Korea are designated as Protected Marine Species. Collecting and removing them is prohibited.
Korea’s marine life,
meet it for yourself
Meet Korea’s marine life.