Spiny Seahorse

Seahorse: Hippocampus histrix

This spiny seahorse posed graciously for me in the front door of her home labyrinth, a soft coral (Alcyonacea). I am guessing that she is female because I do not see the abdominal pouch where males keep a couple's young offspring. Spiny seahorses are considered vulnerable: populations are widespread but are in decline. They are threatened by habitat loss, as bycatch in shrimp fishing, and because of their use in traditional medicine. (Somehow smearing your skin with dead seahorses is supposed to keep it smooth.) Spiny seahorses are carnivores: they dine on tiny shrimp and other plankton. A goby photobombed my shot, at upper right. They were living at 75 ft depth.