Hippocampus bargibanti Whitley, 1970
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Hippocampus bargibanti, also known as Bargibant's seahorse or the pygmy seahorse, is a species of seahorse in the family Syngnathidae found in the central Indo-Pacific area.
This pygmy seahorse is tiny—usually less than 2 centimetres (0.79 in) in size—and lives exclusively on gorgonian sea-fans, as its coloration and physical features expertly mimic the coral for camouflage. The relationship between a pygmy seahorse and its host sea-fan is non-invasive and non-parasitic, serving only to shelter the diminutive seahorse. There are two known color variations, grey with red tubercles and yellow with orange tubercles. It is unknown whether or not, though speculated that, these color varieties are linked to specific host gorgonians (corals).
Wikipedia contributors, Hippocampus bargibanti; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:48:25.936633+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Hippocampus bargibanti Whitley, 1970
- Name authority
- Whitley, 1970
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderSyngnathiformes
- familySyngnathidae Bonaparte, 1831
- subfamilySyngnathinae Bonaparte, 1831
- genusHippocampus Rafinesque, 1810
- speciesHippocampus bargibanti Whitley, 1970
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Hippocampus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Hippocampus algiricus Kaup, 1856 | SyngnathidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hippocampus angustus Günther, 1870 | SyngnathidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hippocampus barbouri Jordan & Richardson, 1908 | SyngnathidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| giraffe seahorseHippocampus camelopardalis Bianconi, 1854 | SyngnathidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hippocampus capensis Boulenger, 1900 | SyngnathidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hippocampus casscsio Zhang, Qin, Wang & Lin, 2016 | SyngnathidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hippocampus debelius Gomon & Kuiter, 2009 | SyngnathidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| lined seahorseHippocampus erectus Perry, 1810 | SyngnathidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hippocampus fisheri Jordan & Evermann, 1903 | SyngnathidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| seahorseHippocampus hippocampus (Linnaeus, 1758) | SyngnathidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pacific seahorseHippocampus ingens Girard, 1858 | SyngnathidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hippocampus jugumus Kuiter, 2001 | SyngnathidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
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.
- Whitley, G. P. (1970). [Bargibant’s Sea-horse from New Caledonia.]. In: Abstracts of Proceedings. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 94 (3) No. 421: 294. 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:3LZKJ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.