Long-snouted seahorse

Long-snouted seahorse
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Gasterosteiformes
Family:	Syngnathidae
Genus:	Hippocampus
Species:	H. guttulatus
Binomial name
Hippocampus guttulatus (G. Cuvier, 1829)[1]
Synonyms
Hippocampus longirostris Schinz, 1822 Hippocampus ramulosus Leach in Shaw & Nodder, 1814

The long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) is a species of fish in the Syngnathidae family. The long-snouted seahorse is also referred to as the spiny seahorse and is native to the northeast Atlantic, including the Mediterranean.^[1]

Long-snouted seahorses live in shallow, sheltered waters, hiding amidst seaweed and sea-grass. Their reproduction is interesting, with females depositing the eggs in a pouch in the male's abdomen, where he incubates them for 5 weeks. At the end of this time, the pouch repeatedly contracts until the small completely formed hatchlings are released.

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