Trade of Seahorses, <I>Hippocampus</I> Spp. (Actinopterygii: Syngnathiformes: Syngnathidae), on the East Coast of the Gulf of Thailand

New records of the Japanese seahorse Hippocampus mohnikei in Southeast Asia lead to updates in range, habitat and threats

“…Additionally mangrove, oyster and mussel farms were reported as habitat for this seahorse species. The new records support previous reports (Yagi et al, 2011;Laksanawimol et al, 2013;Lipton & Thangaraj, 2013;Zhang et al, 2014) New information about population pressures on H. mohnikei was observed in each country (pers. data) based on port visits and fisher interviews (Table II).…”

“…Additionally mangrove, oyster and mussel farms were reported as habitat for this seahorse species. The new records support previous reports (Yagi et al ., ; Laksanawimol et al ., ; Lipton & Thangaraj, ; Zhang et al, ) that H. mohnikei co‐occur with congener species including Hippocampus kuda Bleeker 1852 and Hippocampus trimaculatus Leach 1814 and the pipefish genus Trachyrhamphus . The new sightings are the first reports of H. mohnikei inhabiting the same areas as Hippocampus spinosissimus Weber 1913 and two additional genera of pipefishes Acentronura and Halicampus .…”

“…are featured heavily in global wildlife trade both as dried (traditional medicines or curios) and live (aquaria) specimens (Vincent et al ., ). The main source of dried seahorses is trawl by‐catch (Baum & Vincent, ; Giles et al ., ; Perry et al ., ; Laksanawimol et al ., ), while live animals are specifically targeted for capture (Rosa et al ., ; Perry et al ., ). This trade provides monetary value to low‐income communities, especially subsistence fishers in developing countries (Vincent, ; Vincent et al ., ).…”

“…The occurrence of H. mohnikei in the international seahorse trade may be a recent event (Laksanawimol et al, 2013;Lipton & Thangaraj, 2013;Zhang et al, 2014). Domestic markets for live (Laksanawimol et al, 2013) and dried individuals of this species were reported in at least four countries in Southeast Asia (Table II). In fisheries, H. mohnikei was reported as both a target and non-target catch, which coincides with what is generally known about exploitation of seahorses in Southeast Asia (Perry et al, 2010;Vincent et al, 2011).…”

Morphological and molecular evidence for first records and range extension of the Japanese seahorse, Hippocampus mohnikei (Bleeker 1853) in a bay-estuarine system of Goa, central west coast of India

“…However, new records of H. mohnikei from Cambodia, Malaysia, China, Korea Thailand and Vietnam [37], along with recently published studies from southeastern India [11] and Singapore [41], have greatly expanded the known geographical range of H. mohnikei within Southeast Asia. As a consequence of suspected reduction in population size to the tune of >30% over the past 10 years due to fisheries exploitation [37,[42][43][44], the status of H. mohnikei in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has been listed as 'Vulnerable' [45].…”