Hippocampus algiricus Kaup, 1856

Open encyclopedia reference

The West African seahorse (Hippocampus algiricus) is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae (Seahorses and pipefish). It is found in the eastern central Atlantic Ocean off Angola, Benin, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, as well as the Canary Islands. Although there have been no records from Algeria since Guichenot said that the type was collected at Béjaïa in the 1850s, but the location given may be an error. There is scarce information despite conservation efforts for this species. The first records of the West African seahorse at Gran Canaria Island, located in the north-east Atlantic Ocean, were confirmed by genetic and morphometric analysis. This sighting of the West African seahorse in the Canary Islands could be due to the Canary current, West African coastal upwelling, trade winds, anthropogenic origin related to sporadic ship water ballast transport, or the climatic warming in the canary region making it suitable for them to live in.

Wikipedia contributors, West African seahorse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:48:25.935633+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Hippocampus algiricus Kaup, 1856

Name authority

Kaup, 1856

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Syngnathiformes

Family

Syngnathidae

Genus

Hippocampus

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderSyngnathiformes
11. familySyngnathidae Bonaparte, 1831
12. subfamilySyngnathinae Bonaparte, 1831
13. genusHippocampus Rafinesque, 1810
14. speciesHippocampus algiricus Kaup, 1856

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Hippocampus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 259 records assigned to Syngnathidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. Kaup, J. J. (1856). Catalogue of lophobranchiate fish in the collection of the British Museum. London., i–iv + 1–76, Pls. 1–4. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3LZK7. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.