Pygmy seahorse

Description

Hippocampus pontohi,also known as Pontoh's pygmy seahorse or the weedy pygmy seahorse,is a seahorse of the family Syngnathidae native to the central Indo-pacific.Named after Hence Pontoh,the Indonesian dive guide from Bunaken (Manado) who first brought these pygmy seahorses to attention.The weedy pygmy seahorse is a small fish which can reach a maximum length of approximately 1.7 cm,which makes it one of the smallest representatives of the seahorses.The body is small and slender with a prehensile tail.The head is relatively large,it represents about 25% of the size of the body.The eyes are prominent.It has a moderately long snout and this later does not have any bulbous tip.The coronet rises rearwardly creating a kind of angle when the animal's profile is observed.The trunk and tail may also have some small bulbs.The coronet and the widest part of the back can have some red distinctive branching filaments.The body background color is whitish with a yellow to pinkish color on the head and backside of its body.Thin red lines may also extend from the starting point of the cutaneous filaments from its back.The tail has also some red bands.