Hippocampus paradoxus is newly described species of small seahorse from South Western Australia which was discovered from holdings of preserved specimens. Hippocampus paradoxus bears some resemblance to the similarly sized and shaped H. minotaur, of which only a few samples exist, but H. minotaur doesn’t sport the same kind of dorsal skin flaps as H. paradoxus. More curiously, Hippocampus paradoxus is unique in lacking any kind of a dorsal fin, at least in the single specimen that was used as the holotype of the original description.
The type specimen for Hippocampus paradoxus was collected at a depth of 102 meters (335 ft) by researchers who were targeting bryozoans in a mid-shelf sandy habitat around south west of Esperance, Western Australia, on the extreme western margin of the Great Australian Bight. Seeing as this species of seahorse occurs so far, so deep and in such cold waters we don’t expect this one to pop up at the LFS anytime soon. But hey, maybe someone at the Monterey Bay Aquarium has family down there that can help them add to their extensive living seahorse aquarium displays. Hippocampus paradoxus was described in the Journal Zootaxa by Ralph Foster and Martin Gomon.
