Hippocampus nalu
| Hippocampus nalu | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Syngnathiformes |
| Family: | Syngnathidae |
| Genus: | Hippocampus |
| Species: | H. nalu
|
| Binomial name | |
| Hippocampus nalu Short G, Claassens L, Smith R, De Brauwer M, Hamilton H, Stat M, Harasti D, 2020
| |
Hippocampus nalu, the Sodwana pygmy seahorse,[1][2] African pygmy seahorse[1] or Honeypot seahorse,[1] is a South African species of pygmy seahorse in the family Syngnathidae.[3]
Discovery
The discovery of the species, which inhabits the waters of Sodwana Bay in South Africa, was revealed by an international team of researchers in May 2020.[4] This small pygmy seahorse is the first known pygmy seahorse that lives in the water around Africa. When a diver from the region gave a tip to the researchers, a team of the researchers later discovered this pygmy seahorse.[4] The team that made this discovery arrived in South Africa to look for the pygmy pipehorse and unintentionally found this new species.[5]
Description
The pygmy seahorses have honey brown colored skin including a reddish tail helping them to camouflage under sand as well as algae. They have a lot of camouflaging abilities and so they survive in most areas with coral and algae. With their tiny size, people have described finding them as a needle in a haystack. The nalu can only grow up til 2 centimeters and have a spiky pointed spines on their back compared to others which have flat tipped spines.[6]
References
- ^ a b c Short, Graham; Claassens, Louw; Smith, Richard; De Brauwer, Maarten; Hamilton, Healy; Stat, Michael; Harasti, David (2020). "Hippocampus nalu, a new species of pygmy seahorse from South Africa, and the first record of a pygmy seahorse from the Indian Ocean (Teleostei, Syngnathidae)". ZooKeys (934): 141–156. doi:10.3897/zookeys.934.50924. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 7253503. PMID 32508498.
- ^ Short, Graham; Claassens, Louw; Smith, Richard (2020-05-19). "Press Release: New Pygmy Seahorse Species South Africa" (PDF) (Press release). oceanrealmimages.com: Dr Richard Smith. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
- ^ Main, Douglas (2020-05-20). "New pygmy seahorse discovered, first of its kind in Africa". National Geographic. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
- ^ a b "Meet Africa's first pygmy seahorse species". Phys.org. 2020-05-20. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|authors=ignored (help) - ^ "pygmy seahorse". critter research.
- ^ McGreevey, Nora (May 29, 2020). "Newly Discovered Pygmy Seahorse Species Is the Size of a Fingernail". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
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