First distributional record of the giraffe seahorse, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Hippocampus camelopardalis</i> Bianconi 1854 (Family: Syngnathidae) from Gulf of Kachchh waters, North west coast of India.

Abstract

<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Hippocampus camelopardalis</i> was described based on the occurrence of a single specimen obtained from Mithapur reef region from the Gulf of Kachchh Marine National Park region, Gujarat. The discovery of this seahorse is considered as new record based on the review of earlier literature from Indian waters. The observed species is currently reported to occur from South African waters and present study infers its distributional range to Arabian Sea (Indian west coast). The observed specimen shows similarity to other seahorse species like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">H.trimaculatus</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">H.whitei</i> based on the occurrence of three spots on its body and snout length respectively.