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  • This is a Shiho’s seahorse (Hippocampus sindonis), a species that is endemic to Northwest Pacific coastal waters of Japan and southern Korea. The Japanese name is hanatatsu.
    hippocampus-sindonis-seahorse-japan-...tif
  • This is male Korean seahorse (Hippocampus haema) on the verge of giving birth. His brooding pouch has just opened, with several curled-up baby seahorses about toe emerge. The outlines of more babies can be seen through the skin of the male’s pouch. Note the seahorse’s use of his prehensile tail to anchor itself to the algae. Giving birth is an exhausting, physical process.
    hippocampus-haema-korean-seahorse-gi...tif
  • A thorny seahorse (Hippocampus hystrix) missing its snout and mouth. It was unclear how this fish lost its mouth, but it may have been attacked by another fish. The seahorse looked healthy, but it's difficult to see how it could have survived much longer without a mouth.
    Hippocampus-hystrix-seahorse-missing..tiff
  • The seahorse extended its jaws forward and opened the area of its face just below its eyes and jawline several times, perhaps to vent water through its mouth and jaw structure.
    thorny-seahorse-hippocampus-histrix-...tif
  • An orange-red thorny seahorse (Hippocampus histrix) making its way across the muck and rubble substrate of Lembeh Strait in North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
    red-thorny-seahorse-hippocampus-hist...tif
  • This thorny seahorse (Hippocampus histrix) changed its color from yellow to match the colour of the background fan over the course of several weeks.
    thorny-seahorse-hippocampus-histrix-...tif
  • This is a male crowned seahorse (Hippocampus coronatus) carrying a pouch full of developing juveniles that are almost ready to emerge. The seahorse is nestled in Codium cylindrical Holmes seaweed. This species lives in the northwest Pacific, endemic to Japan.
    hippocampus-coronatus-male-pregnant-...tif
  • This is a male Korean seahorse (Hippocampus haema) hatching a juveniles after brooding them for somewhere between three and ten weeks. The adult is about 8cm in length. As they develop, the juveniles are curled up inside the brood pouch. Though some emerge straightened out, many are ejected in curled-up form, eventually unfurling, some soon after emerging, some sinking as they take time to adjust. In this photo, a number of curled-up juveniles are just about to be ejected from the brood pouch. Described in 2017, this species is found in the waters of Korea, as well as along the southern and western coasts of Japan.
    hippocampus-haema-korean-seahorse-ma...tif
  • This is a male Korean seahorse (Hippocampus haema) hatching a juveniles after brooding them for somewhere between three and ten weeks. The adult is about 8cm in length. As they develop, the juveniles are curled up inside the brood pouch. Though some emerge straightened out, many are ejected in curled-up form, eventually unfurling, some soon after emerging, some sinking as they take time to adjust. Described in 2017, this species is found in the waters of Korea, as well as along the southern and western coasts of Japan.
    hippocampus-haema-korean-seahorse-ma...tif
  • This is a male Korean seahorse (Hippocampus haema) hatching a juveniles after brooding them for somewhere between three and ten weeks. The adult is about 8cm in length. As they develop, the juveniles are curled up inside the brood pouch. Though some emerge straightened out, many are ejected in curled-up form, eventually unfurling, some soon after emerging, some sinking as they take time to adjust. Described in 2017, this species is found in the waters of Korea, as well as along the southern and western coasts of Japan.
    hippocampus-haema-korean-seahorse-ma...tif
  • This is a male Korean seahorse (Hippocampus haema) hatching a juveniles after brooding them for somewhere between three and ten weeks. The adult is about 8cm in length. As they develop, the juveniles are curled up inside the brood pouch. Though some emerge straightened out, many are ejected in curled-up form, eventually unfurling, some soon after emerging, some sinking as they take time to adjust. Note that two of juveniles that have just emerged are still attached to the thin membrane from their egg cases. Described in 2017, this species is found in the waters of Korea, as well as along the southern and western coasts of Japan.
    hippocampus-haema-korean-seahorse-ma...tif
  • This is a bastard seahorse (Acentronura gracilissima), a species of pygmy pipehorse that occurs in coastal waters down to a depth of about 40m. The individual pictured here was at a depth of 6m, clinging to seagrass with its prehensile tail.
    acentronura-gracilissima-bastard-sea...tif
  • This is a palr of Korean seahorses (Hippocampus haema) preparing to spawn. About 30 seconds after this photo was taken, the seahorses swam up from the reef, where the lighter-colored female (left) deposited eggs into the abdominal pouch of the male (right). Once spawning takes place, seahorses usually  usually return to independent activity, most often foraging for food. In this instance, the pair stayed together post-spawning and continued courtship-like behavior. They maintained body contact, often with their prehensile tails intertwined. The male broods the eggs for three to ten weeks, depending upon the time of year. After hatching the juveniles, the male engages in courtship with the female and mates again throughout the spring and summer breeding season. Pair bonds are reasonably consistent, though there seems to be some mixing that takes place. Described in 2017, this species is found in the waters of Korea, as well as along the southern and western coasts of Japan.
    hippocampus-haema-korean-seahorse-co...tif
  • This is a palr of Korean seahorses (Hippocampus haema) engaged in unusual post-mating courtship activity. Whenever the two seahorses separated and were not in direct physical contact, they maintained frequent eye contact, as depicted here with the male in the background (belly full of eggs) looking toward the female. Earlier in the morning, the pair had completed hours of courtship, culminating with the female depositing eggs into the brooding pouch of the male. Once this takes place, the pair usually return to independent activity, most often foraging for food. In this instance, the pair stayed together. The male broods the eggs for three to ten weeks, depending upon the time of year. After hatching the juveniles, the male engages in courtship with the female and mates again throughout the spring and summer breeding season. Pair bonds are reasonably consistent, though there seems to be some mixing that takes place. Described in 2017, this species is found in the waters of Korea, as well as along the southern and western coasts of Japan.
    hippocampus-haema-korean-seahorse-co...tif
  • This is a palr of Korean seahorses (Hippocampus haema) engaged in unusual post-mating courtship activity. Whenever the two seahorses separated and were not in direct physical contact, they maintained frequent eye contact, as depicted here. Earlier in the morning, the pair had completed hours of courtship, culminating with the female (right) depositing eggs into the brooding pouch of the male (left). Once this takes place, the pair usually return to independent activity, most often foraging for food. In this instance, the pair stayed together. They maintained body contact, often with their prehensile tails intertwined as pictured here. The male broods the eggs for three to ten weeks, depending upon the time of year. After hatching the juveniles, the male engages in courtship with the female and mates again throughout the spring and summer breeding season. Pair bonds are reasonably consistent, though there seems to be some mixing that takes place. Described in 2017, this species is found in the waters of Korea, as well as along the southern and western coasts of Japan.
    hippocampus-haema-korean-seahorse-co...tif
  • This is a pair of Korean seahorses (Hippocampus haema) engaged in spawning. The lighter-colored female on the left is depositing eggs into the brooding pouch of the male (right, looking toward the camera). The male’s pouch is swollen and distended to make room for the eggs, which he fertilizes once they are deposited. The male broods the eggs for three to ten weeks. After hatching the juveniles, the male engages in courtship with the female and mates again throughout the spring and summer breeding season. Pair bonds are reasonably consistent, though there seems to be some mixing that takes place. Described in 2017, this species is found in the waters of Korea, as well as along the southern and western coasts of Japan.
    hippocampus-haema-korean-seahorse-sp...tif
  • This is a pair of Korean seahorses (Hippocampus haema) engaged in unusual post-mating courtship activity. Earlier in the morning, the pair had completed hours of courtship, culminating with the female (background) depositing eggs into the brooding pouch of the male (foreground). Once this takes place, the pair usually return to independent activity, most often foraging for food. In this instance, the pair stayed together. They maintained body contact, often with their prehensile tails intertwined. The male broods the eggs for three to ten weeks. After hatching the juveniles, the male engages in courtship with the female and mates again throughout the spring and summer breeding season. Pair bonds are reasonably consistent, though there seems to be some mixing that takes place. Described in 2017, this species is found in the waters of Korea, as well as along the southern and western coasts of Japan.
    hippocampus-haema-korean-seahorse-co...tif
  • This is a pair of Korean seahorses (Hippocampus haema) engaged in unusual post-mating courtship activity. Earlier in the morning, the pair had completed hours of courtship, culminating with the female (right) depositing eggs into the brooding pouch of the male (left). Once this takes place, the pair usually return to independent activity, most often foraging for food. In this instance, the pair stayed together. They maintained body contact, often with their prehensile tails intertwined as pictured here. The male broods the eggs for three to ten weeks, depending upon the time of year. After hatching the juveniles, the male engages in courtship with the female and mates again throughout the spring and summer breeding season. Pair bonds are reasonably consistent, though there seems to be some mixing that takes place. Described in 2017, this species is found in the waters of Korea, as well as along the southern and western coasts of Japan.
    hippocampus-haema-korean-seahorse-co...tif
  • This is a male Korean seahorse (Hippocampus haema) on the left, with two females competing for his attention. The dark stripe down the central ventral surface of the seahorses is indicative of courtship. Both females have a clutch of eggs that they are ready to deposit with a male, who will then brood them for a period of three to ten weeks. Though pair bonds of these fish seem to be reasonably consistent throughout the breeding season, instances of competition like this (two females for a male, as well as two males for a female) do take place. Here one female engaged the male in the elaborate courtship ritual, while the other female stayed close while attempting to get the male’s attention. After some time, the male broke away from one female and went to the other. This process repeated multiple times, and likely continued for many hours beyond the time I was able to observe. Described in 2017, this species is found in the waters of Korea, as well as along the southern and western coasts of Japan.
    hippocampus-haema-korean-seahorse-co...tif
  • This is a male Korean seashorse (Hippocampus haema) giving birth. This birth took place at the very end of the reproductive season. As such, this male carried only about 25 young. The number of juveniles that pregnant males carry declines through the season, because the number of eggs produced and passed to males by females drops over time.
    hippocampus-haema-korean-seahorse-ma...tif
  • Eye-to-eye with a long, brown pipefish (Trachyrhamphus bicoarctatus). Perspective distorted by the wide-angle macro perspective of the Totomega lens
    bend-stick-pipefish-Trachyrhamphus-b..tiff
  • Eye-to-eye with a long, brown pipefish (Trachyrhamphus bicoarctatus). Perspective distorted by the wide-angle macro perspective of the Totomega lens
    double-ended-pipefish-Trachyrhamphus..tiff
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