First record of the Great Seahorse Hippocampus kelloggi Jordan & Snyder, 1901 (Actinopterygii: Syngnathiformes: Syngnathidae) from the northwestern coast of Bay of Bengal

Abstract

This study reports the first occurrence of the Great Seahorse Hippocampus kelloggi from the state of Odisha in the eastern coast (Bay of Bengal) of India. The seahorse was captured in a ring net during daily fishing activities. The sample was collected from the Ariyapalli fish landing center and identification was carried out based on the morphometric features of the specimen and the seahorse identification guide. The total length of the juvenile seahorse was 12.5 cm (with a tail length of 6.6 cm (52.8%), trunk length of 3.4 cm (27.2%) and head length of 2.5 cm (20%)). The length of the snout was 1 cm. There were 38 tail rings followed by 11 rings on the trunk of the animal. Both eye and cheek spines were present. Northward migration (~1,300 km) of this species can be a response of extensive fishing activities around the southern coast of India. This calls for increased monitoring of the coast coastal ecosystems of India on the east coast for better conservation and management of the remaining seahorse populations.