Denise's pygmy seahorse

Hippocampus denise is tiny, growing only to a total length of 1.

Picture of the Denise's pygmy seahorse has been licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution.
Original source: Flickr Author Jenny (JennyHuang) from Taipei Permission Author: Jenny (JennyHuang) from Taipei Permission (

The Denise's pygmy seahorse lives in the reef-associated, marine, depth range 13 - 90 m environment.

Denise's pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus denise) is a species of fish in the Syngnathidae family. They can be found off southern Japan, Indonesia, northern Australia and New Caledonia. Its natural habitat is coral reefs. More

A Denise's pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus denise) takes its place among coral polyps in Indonesian waters. At less than an inch (2.5 centimeters) tall, the seahorse's size and coloration help camouflage it within the gorgonian coral. More

Denise's pygmy seahorse can often be observed during the daytime swimming across the surface of the sea fan on which it lives, and is generally more active than the common pygmy seahorse (4). More

Denise's pygmy seahorse is a master of camouflage, its orange colouration and body tubercles exactly matching the stems and polyps of its gorgonian sea fan hosts (4). More

Denise's Pygmy Seahorse Hippocampus denise on gorgonian coral, PNG © Linda Pitkin - Gallery : ref. More

Denise's Pygmy Seahorse (Hippocampus denise) in an unusual colour form Devil scoprionfish Devil scorpionfish Eggs of a damselfish on a whip coral Xenia coral crab first firstprevious Photo More

Courting pair of Denise's pygmy seahorses with pesky amphipod getting in on the action! Crinoid clingfish Crocodile needlefish being cleaned by two cleaner wrasse Damselfish Decorator crab with hydroids stuck to the carapace Denise's pygmy seahorse Denise's More

Denise's Pygmy Seahorse is probably widespread in the western Pacific area. Specimens have been recorded from depths of from 42' to 297' and from Indonesia, Malaysia, Vanuatu, Malaysia, Solomon Islands, Palau and Pohnpei. More

Common names

Denise-Zwergseepferdchen in German (Deutsch)
Denise's pygmy seahorse in English
Hippocampus denise in Catalan (Català)

Order : Syngnathiformes
Family : Syngnathidae
Genus : Hippocampus
Species : Hippocampus denise
Authority : Lourie & Randall, 2003