Hippocampus barbouri

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
ANIMALIA CHORDATA ACTINOPTERYGII SYNGNATHIFORMES SYNGNATHIDAE

Scientific Name: Hippocampus barbouri
Species Authority: Jordan & Richardson, 1908
Common Name/s:
English – Barbour's Seahorse
Synonym/s:
Hippocampus aimei Roule, 1916
Hippocampus histrix Kaup, 1853 [mistaken identity]
Taxonomic Notes: The 1996 and 2000 IUCN Red Lists included H. aimei which is now a synonym of H. barbouri and H. spinosissimus (Lourie et al. 1999).

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria: Vulnerable   A4cd   ver 3.1
Year Assessed: 2002
Assessor/s Project Seahorse
Evaluator/s: Lafrance, P., Lourie, S., Marsden, D. & Vincent, A.C.J. (Syngnathid Red List Authority)
Justification:
Details of declines in H. barbouri populations are sparse, but the existing indirect evidence suggests cause for concern. Traditional medicine (TM) and aquarium traders in many areas report declines in seahorse availability, and H. barbouri is among the most commonly traded species (Vincent 1996).

H. barbouri is sold in the aquarium, curiosity, and TM trades, particularly the first (Pajaro unpubl. data). The species is targeted by fishers who wade or snorkel through their habitats, or use push-nets or a net stretched between two people (Lourie unpubl. data, Pajaro unpubl. data). It is also a bycatch in other gears used in its shallow seagrass habitat (Pajaro unpubl. data).

Many H. barbouri are exported into the aquarium trade from Tanekeke Island in southwestern Sulawesi, Indonesia, with up to 2,000–3,000 animals sold per week according to local fishers (pers. comm.). These fishers report that it is "more difficult to find seahorses" than before, but were unable to quantify this. Aquarium dealers and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) traders in Unjung Pandang (southwestern Sulawesi) used to obtain seahorses from many of the islands in the nearby Spermonde Archipelago over the last 20 years. Now they can only get the animals from Tanekeke and from the farthest islands (pers. comm.). Northern Palawan in the western Philippines is another area of major export of this species, also with about 2,000–3,000 animals exported on a weekly basis in 1999 (Lourie unpubl. data). Another population from which large numbers of specimens are regularly removed is on the south coast of Lombok, Indonesia. This area is currently being assessed for tourist development (Hizbul Haq, pers. comm.).

In addition to the substantial demand for this species for TM and aquaria, its seagrass habitats are also threatened. Land-based activities such as forestry often lead to increased siltation in surrounding marine waters, thereby smothering seagrass beds. The fishing gears discussed above also result in substantial trampling of habitats by fishers (Pajaro unpubl. data). The decline in and fragmentation of its habitats throughout its range raise the possibility of declines in populations in addition to those caused by the fisheries and trade.

This species was previously assessed (1996) under the name Hippocampus histrix. It is now recognized that this identification was in error.
History:
1996 – Vulnerable (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description: H. barbouri is recorded from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia (Lourie et al. 1999).
Countries:
Native:
Indonesia; Malaysia (Sabah); Philippines
FAO Marine Fishing Areas:
Native:
Pacific – western central

Population [top]

Population: Population declines are inferred based on substantial exploitation, decreased availability in the trade, and habitat degeneration.
Population Trend: Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology: A marine species, occurring in shallow seagrass habitat. This species may be particularly susceptible to decline. All seahorse species have vital parental care, and many species studied to date have high site fidelity (Perante et al. 2002, Vincent et al. in review), highly structured social behaviour (Vincent and Sadler 1995), and relatively sparse distributions (Lourie et al. 1999). The importance of life history parameters in determining response to exploitation has been demonstrated for a number of species (Jennings et al. 1998).
Systems: Marine

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s): H. barbouri is sold in the aquarium, curiosity, and TM trades, particularly the first (Pajaro, unpubl. data). It is also a by-catch in other gears used in its shallow seagrass habitat (Pajaro, unpubl. data). In addition to the substantial demand for this species for TM and aquaria, its seagrass habitats are also threatened.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions: Further research on this species is needed.
Citation: Project Seahorse 2002. Hippocampus barbouri. In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 08 January 2009.
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