Dwarf seahorse
Amazing fact
The dwarf seahorse has neither teeth nor a stomach.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
The dwarf seahorse has neither teeth nor a stomach.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Dwarf seahorse
- Scientific name
- Hippocampus zosterae
- Japanese name
- ドワーフシーホース
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Order
- Syngnathiformes
- Family
- Syngnathidae
- Genus
- Hippocampus
It lives along the Gulf of Mexico coast and the east coast of Central and South America.
How the Dwarf seahorse lives
It anchors itself with its tail and blends into its surroundings while waiting for prey. It stretches toward its prey and sucks it in through its snout. It swims upright using its dorsal fin and steers with its pectoral fins. It generally lives alone or in pairs.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Range
- East coast of Central and South America and the Gulf of Mexico coast
Where the Dwarf seahorse has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ドワーフシーホース
- 简体中文
- 小海马
- 繁體中文
- 小海馬
- Español
- Caballito enano
- Deutsch
- Florida-Zwergseepferdchen
- Português (Brasil)
- Cavalo-marinho-anão
- Italiano
- Cavalluccio di Lichtenstein
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 鳥羽水族館 — ドワーフシーホースChecked: 2026-11-04
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Hippocampus zosteraeChecked: 2026-11-06
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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