help me find Colmani and/or Pontohi pygmy

[Polpessa]

Hi All,

I am searching for the Colmani and/or Pontohi pygmy seahorses. Any info gratefully received. I am in Raja Ampat, Indonesia.

I would like to find some of either!! And I need help from those of you who have seen them. Specifically, I would like info on what it was found gripping onto -- eg. algae? sea grass? if so, what type, and at what depth? Was it on a wall? In a bay? On a sandy flat? Was there a lot of current? None at all? Was it in a recess or cave or out in the open? If you can find the scientific latin name for the type of plant, algae, or hydroid it was holding onto that would be really helpful as well!!

Diving in Indonesia in areas where there was a lot of Halimeda capiosa I sometimes found Colemani there, but I have seen pictures online of Pontohi grasping on to something that looks like a brownish hydroid, and I'm wondering what this hydroid is?

Where I am now there isn't much Halimeda capiosa but there is Halimeda macroloba, and I'm sure from looking at photos that this type of seahorse is not limited to the capiosa environment.

Often what the seahorses are gripping onto is blurry and indistinct in the photos I've seen online.

Finally, are Colemani and Pontohi the same creature?

I have the 2003 Rudie Kuiter book "Seahorses, Pipefish and their Relatives" and it makes mention of the Colemani but not to the Pontohi.

In my 2003 "Tropical Pacific Reef Fish Identification" by Allen, Steene, Humann and Deloach, it also refers to Colemani but not to Pontohi.

But when I look online at pics of the Pontohi it looks just like the Colemani!

Thank you very much!

 

[joshjensen]

I was just in Raja Ampat and saw a few pontohis. They were all on hydroids and they all look a lot like Colmani so I am pretty confused too.

My guess is the guides are just calling them all Pontohi because that is the new species everyone wants to see. But I think the black ones with red down the back are the real Pontohi, and the white ones with the little red tuft on their back are the Colemans.

Who knows? But all the ones we saw were on small hydroids on small coral heads or walls slightly overhung - i.e. no in direct sunlight. Depths ranged from 8 to 20 meters and currents from none to ripping - I don't think currents worry them because they are so small that they are always in eddies and protected from the strongest currents.

 

[Vie]

Finally, are Colemani and Pontohi the same creature?

No.

According to Lourie & Kuiter, "Hippocampus pontohi is most similar to H. colemani and is primarily separated from the latter species on the basis of tail ring counts (26–28 in H. pontohi, versus 28–30 in H. colemani), raised angular coronet, the following proportions: OD:HL (22.4–26.6% vs 18.6–18.9%), TD9:SL (11.0–15.7% vs 18.9–19.5%) and overall size (SL 16.6–16.9 mm vs 26.5–27.3 mm)."

Hippocampus pontohi (above) was only described last year...

See: Sara A. Lourie and Rudie H. Kuiter: Three new pygmy seahorse species from Indonesia (Teleostei: Syngnathidae: Hippocampus). Zootaxa 1963: pp. 54-68 (2008).

...so it would be unusual to find it in an ID book.

For the description of Hippocampus colemani (above), see:

Kuiter, Rudie H: A New Pygmy Seahorse (Pisces: Syngnathidae: Hippocampus) from Lord Howe Island. Records of the Australian Museum (2003) Vol. 55: 113–116.

www.australianmuseum.net.au/pdf/publications/1382_complete.pdf