Thorny seahorse
Amazing fact
Thorny seahorses have colors such as gray, green and yellow that match their surroundings.
Museums Victoria
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Thorny seahorses have colors such as gray, green and yellow that match their surroundings.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Thorny seahorse
- Scientific name
- Hippocampus histrix
- Japanese name
- イバラタツ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Order
- Syngnathiformes
- Family
- Syngnathidae
- Genus
- Hippocampus
It lives from the Pacific coast of southern Japan and the Izu Islands across the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
In shallow coastal waters, it is often found wrapped around seaweed or sea creatures called yagi (gorgonians).
How the Thorny seahorse lives
It is thought to eat small crustaceans and other drifting organisms. The female uses an egg-laying tube to put eggs into a pouch beneath the male's abdomen. The male guards the eggs inside the pouch and supplies oxygen. The male may also supply nourishment until the young are born.
Museums VictoriaBasic data
- Range
- Pacific coast of southern Japan, Izu Islands, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean
Where the Thorny 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
- イバラタツ
- 简体中文
- 刺海马
- 繁體中文
- 刺海馬
- 한국어
- 가시해마
- Español
- Caballito de mar espinoso
- Français
- Hippocampe épineux
- Deutsch
- Dorniges Seepferdchen
- Português (Brasil)
- Cavalo-marinho-espinhoso
- Italiano
- Cavalluccio spinoso
- العربية
- فرس البحر الشوكي
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Kuda laut ekor duri
- Tiếng Việt
- Cá ngựa gai dài
- ไทย
- ม้าน้ำหนามขอ
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 — イバラタツChecked: 2026-11-04
- Museums Victoria — Fishes of Australia — Thorny Seahorse, Hippocampus histrixChecked: 2026-11-07
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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