Hippocampus satomiae (lat.) Is a species of marine ray-finned fish , the smallest member of the needle family (Syngnathidae). It is found only on the island of Deravan north of Kalimantan and Sulawesi Island [1] .
| Hippocampus satomiae |
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| Scientific classification |
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| No rank : | Bilateral symmetric |
| View: | Hippocampus satomiae |
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| International Scientific Name |
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Hippocampus satomiae Lourie & Kuiter , 2008 |
| Security status |
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Not enough data IUCN Data Deficient : 172284 |
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The holotype is a male with a length of 13.8 mm, caught from the island of Deravan at a depth of 10β18 m. A specific name was given in honor of Miss Satomi Onishi, who first caught this fish.
Content
The maximum length is 14 mm and the height is 11 mm. In the dorsal fin there are 13 soft rays, in the pectoral fins there are 9 soft rays, the anal fin is small or absent, the tail fin is absent. The body is covered with bone shields arranged by rings; 12 trunk and 27-28 tail rings. A relatively large head is bent down to the belly. On the head there is a corolla in the form of a crown with elongated edges (H-shaped view from above). Snout without bulbous thickening. On the snout between the eyes there is a clearly defined spike. One gill opening below head. There are spines above the eyes, sides of the head, on the body and on the rings. The brood bag in males is located in front of the anus [1] .
General body color is gray or light brown. On the gill cover, body and tail, orange or red spots are clearly visible. Eyes are surrounded by a black ring, black dots between the eye and the snout.
Hippocampus satomiae attached to corals
Biology is practically unexplored. They live in the coastal area at a depth of 5-20 m among corals . During daylight hours, they are inactive and difficult to detect even in typical habitats. Activated at dusk, at night they are collected in groups of 3-5 individuals.
They feed on small crustaceans [2] .
About reproduction almost nothing is known. The type specimen caught in October contained 8 developing embryos in a brood bag. At birth, the young are of an intense black color, body height of about 3 mm, similar in shape to adult individuals. It settles to the bottom near the place of birth.
The species was included in the 10 most interesting species of living organisms ( Top 10 New Species 2009 ), discovered in 2008 and selected by scientists from the International Species Research Institute at the University of Arizona [3] .
