Short-snouted Seahorse

The short-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus hippocampus) is a Syngnathidae species found in coastal waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic from the British Isles south to West Africa. It is closely related to, and often found alongside, the long-snouted seahorse, with the two species sometimes confused. The short-snouted seahorse is generally more robust and darker than its long-snouted relative. It is listed as Data Deficient to Vulnerable by conservation bodies in parts of its range, with declines linked to habitat loss in seagrass beds and incidental capture in fishing gear. It is protected under regional legislation in several European countries.

This species is best separated from the similar long-snouted seahorse by snout length and body build.

• Snout: short and thick, less than a third of head length
• Coronet: tall with short, blunt spines
• Body: stocky and robust, often darker brown or grey
• Filaments: fewer or shorter skin filaments than the long-snouted seahorse
• Size: typically 10-15 cm The clearest field mark is snout proportion - the short-snouted seahorse's snout is noticeably stubbier than the elongated snout of Hippocampus guttulatus.

Short-snouted seahorses live in shallow coastal waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic, ranging from the southern British Isles and the Netherlands south to Senegal and the Canary Islands. They favor sheltered bays, lagoons, and seagrass meadows (particularly Zostera and Posidonia) at depths generally under 20 m, though they also occur over sand, mud, and algae in the absence of seagrass. Water temperatures are temperate to subtropical. The species is somewhat more tolerant of open, less vegetated habitats than the long-snouted seahorse, which favors denser seagrass cover.

Short-snouted seahorses are slow-swimming, sedentary fish that grip vegetation or debris with their prehensile tails and feed by ambushing small crustaceans with a rapid snout-suction strike. They are typically solitary or loosely paired, forming monogamous breeding relationships during the reproductive season, which in temperate populations peaks in spring and summer. As with all seahorses, males carry fertilized eggs in a brood pouch, gestating them for several weeks before releasing fully formed juveniles. They are weak swimmers and rely heavily on camouflage and stillness rather than speed to avoid predators, making structurally complex habitat important to their survival.