SEAHORSE
1. Context
The great seahorse, one of the nine species found in the Indian coastal ecosystem, is among the eight species tagged ‘vulnerable’. Extensive fishing off the Coromandel coast could be forcing the great seahorse to migrate laboriously toward Odisha.
2. About Sea Horse
- Seahorse, (genus Hippocampus), also spelled sea horse, is any of about 50 species of marine fishes allied to pipefishes in the family Syngnathidae (order Gasterosteiformes).
- Seahorses are found in shallow coastal waters in latitudes from about 52° N to 45° S.
- Their habitats include coral reefs, mangroves seagrass beds, and estuaries.
- They are unique in appearance, with their horselike head, prehensile tail, independently moving eyes, and brood pouch.
- They have long, tubular snouts and small, toothless mouths.
- Their bodies are covered with consecutive rings of bony plates. The name of the genus that contains seahorses is taken from the Greek words hippos (meaning “horse”) and kampos (meaning “sea monster”).
Image Source: AZ Animals3. Sea Horse Species in India
- There are 46 species of seahorses reported worldwide. The coastal ecosystems of India house nine out of 12 species found in the Indo-Pacific, one of the hotspots of seahorse populations that are distributed across diverse ecosystems such as seagrass, mangroves, macroalgal beds, and coral reefs.
- These nine species are distributed along the coasts of eight States and five Union Territories from Gujarat to Odisha, apart from Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- The Great seahorse, also known as the Hippocampus kelloggi has been included in the ‘vulnerable’ list due to its overexploitation. It was popular as an ornamental fish and as a constituent in Chinese medicines.
- The population of the great seahorse, which is among the eight species tagged ‘vulnerable’, is declining due to its overexploitation for traditional Chinese medicines and as an ornamental fish, combined with general destructive fishing and fisheries bycatch.
- Despite the ban on fishing and trading activities on seahorses from 2001, clandestine fishing and trading still take place in India.
- This creates immense pressure on the seahorse populations that have a high dependence on local habitats to maintain their extensive and long-life history traits.
4. Long Migration
- Seahorses are poor swimmers but migrate by rafting -clinging to floating substrata such as macroalgae or plastic debris for dispersal by ocean currents to new habitats for successful maintenance of their population.
- However, the 1,300-km northward migration of the great seahorse from Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar to Odisha is likely a response to extensive fishing activities around the southern coast of India.
- The species is abundant off the Coromandel coast (Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu), but is under extensive fishing pressure, with 13 million individuals caught a year.
5. Need for Conservation
- Increased monitoring of the coastal ecosystems on the Eastern coast of India is essential to conserve and protect the remaining seahorse populations of the area.
- The fishing nets used to catch seahorses need to be banned and rules enforced while also reconsidering existing trawling regulations in order to protect the species as their migration to the north will not be helpful due to the lack of a suitable environment.
For Prelims
| For Prelims: Sea Horse, Vulnerable, Coromandel coast, Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, Hippocampus kelloggi, Lakshadweep, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. |
Source: The Indian Express
