help with species id please!

[snowlancer2720]

thanks for looking, I picked up two of these seahorses a few days ago. My LFS had them labeled as "Tank Raised Seahorses" and when asked didnt know which ones they are, so being the complusive buyer i am, I bought them..After getting some advice from n-r.com I think they are h. barbouri still not sure though. Thanks for your help and imput! Also, i think that this is female the other seems to have a bigger middle area which im assuming is a pouch, if anyone can give me their opinion it would be appreciated!

 

[TamiW]

Definately not barbs. It looks a little like H. erectus, but the body isn't full enough. How large are they? I suppose if they are young they might not have filled out yet.

 

[snowlancer2720]

thanks for the quick reply, from top of the head to tip of tail id say mabye 4.5-5 inches...

 

[luvabunny]

Definitely not barbs. I'd say erectus too. The horse in the pic is female.

 

[JHemdal]

All anyone can do is guess when it comes to identifying seahorses from photographs...combine that with the fact that many TR seahorses develop morphological differences from their wild counterparts, PLUS the idea that some of these tank raised fish are hybrids anyway - makes it all just a guess. Since except for the temperate species, the husbandry of these "smooth, large" seahorses are all very similar, so it really doesn't matter much I guess. That said, here are my thoughts: if the fish has a faint black line along the base of its dorsal fin (couldn't see in the picture) I'd guess that it is a H. kuda (or one of its doppelgangers) based on the lack of stripes on its relatively short snout. I would think that H. erectus would have a longer snout, and there ought to be a "starry" pattern around its eyes. However, the crown does look like that of H. erectus...

Jay Hemdal

 

[TamiW]

While I agree that a 100% accurate identification is next to impossible in the home aquarium, you can get very close. What really needs to be done is to look at the distinct features such as coronet, eye and cheek spines, trunk rings, head to snout length, etc . . . and then compare it to the chart in the Project Seahorse identification guide.

I have to disagree on the observation of H. erectus and long snouts. While some have long-ish snouts, they all tend to be less than the head length. And some are very short snouted. There does seem to be quite a bit of variation with Hippocampus erectus, including snout length.

The thing that has me thinking its H. erectus is the horizontal stripes. I know pattern alone should not be the determining factor for species identification due to variation. However, erectus have a very distinct pattern that you just don't in other seahorse. Save MAYBE H. guttulatus, and those aren't really found in the hobby. (and even there the pattern is different.)

 

[Fishfreak218]

ohh.. srry snowlancer.. it looked/looks like a Barbouri to me....
:blush:
srry for the wrong ID on n-r.com

 

[snowlancer2720]

thanks everyone for the help with the id, and luvabunny for the sexing...(haha, you all have dirty minds!)

Fishfreak, thats totally cool, no harm done at all

JHemdal on the dorsal fin, there is a faint black line on it, so that might be a clue to the H. Kuda and it wasnt on the expensive side (2 for 120) so i figure they are kind of common like H. Kuda's.

FishGirrrl, i will definately have to check out that chart, not that it really matters what kind they are to me at all, but i do like to know what they are called when someone asks me what i have insted of just saying "seahorses".