Bargibant's Pygmy Seahorse
Hippocampus bargibanti
Sighting evidence at Pig Island, Madang
Photo: Julian Hsu · CC BY-NC
Bargibant's pygmy seahorses — barely 2 centimeters long — live exclusively on Muricella sea fans, their coloration and tubercle pattern so perfectly matched to their host that they evaded scientific discovery until 1969 when one was found accidentally on a sea fan collected for museum display. Monogamous pairs hold adjacent territories on the same fan, meeting daily for a greeting display that reinforces pair bonds, and the female deposits eggs directly into the male's brood pouch for gestation.
Evidence at this site
0 records within 25 km
Confidence: low