Horsefish
Hippocampus erectus Perry, 1810
Status not recordedbony fish
The horsefish (Hippocampus erectus) is a species in the family Syngnathidae, order Syngnathiformes.
No freely licensed photo yet
Quick facts about the horsefish
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the horsefish live?
Not recorded
Is the horsefish endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the horsefish classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classTeleostei
- orderSyngnathiformes
- familySyngnathidae
- genusHippocampus
- SpeciesHippocampus erectus Perry, 1810
Synonyms Hippocampus brunneus, Hippocampus fascicularis, Hippocampus guttulatus, Hippocampus hudsonius, Hippocampus kincaidi, Hippocampus laevicaudatus, Hippocampus marginalis, Hippocampus punctulatus, Hippocampus stylifer, Hippocampus tetragonous, Hippocampus tetragonus, Hippocampus villosus, Syngnathus caballus, Syngnathus tetragonous, Syngnathus tetragonus
Other names and names in other languages (40)
- Lined seahorseEnglish
- Northern seahorseEnglish
- Spotted seahorseEnglish
- Cavallet de mar americàCatalan
- koníček vzpřímenýCzech
- Vestatlantisk søhestDanish
- LinienseepferdchenGerman
- Caballito de marSpanish
- Täpp-merihobukeEstonian
- hippocampe rayéFrench
- Egyenes csikóhalHungarian
- Ippocampo striatoItalian
- Kuda lautMalay
- ZeepaardjeDutch
- Cabai di awaPapiamento
- pławikonik atlantyckiPolish
- HipocampoPortuguese
- Amerikansk JättesjöhästSwedish
- denizatiTurkish
- 北方海馬Chinese
- FloridaseepferdchenGerman
- StreifenseepferdchenGerman
- Caballito de Mar EstriadoSpanish
- caballito erectoSpanish
- caballito estriadoSpanish
- Caballito estriado de marSpanish
- Caballito punteadoSpanish
- Cavalluccio striatoItalian
- Korek telingaMalay
- Kuda laut bunjutMalay
- Tangkur kudaMalay
- Undok-undokMalay
- Kabaai di AwaPapiamento
- Kabai 'i awaPapiamento
- Cavalinho-do-marPortuguese
- Cavalo-marinhoPortuguese
- Cavalo-marinho-raiadoPortuguese
- 北方海马Chinese
- 直立海馬Chinese
- 直立海马Chinese
Relatives of the horsefish
Other species in the same genus Hippocampus.
Seahorse
Hippocampus guttulatus
Pygmy seahorse
Hippocampus bargibanti
Sea pony
Hippocampus kuda
Large seahorse
Hippocampus abdominalis
Tiger tail seahorse
Hippocampus comes
Seahorse
Hippocampus hippocampus
CompareHorsefish vs SeahorseHorsefish vs Pygmy seahorseHorsefish vs Sea ponyHorsefish vs Large seahorse
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
What kind of animal is the horsefish?
The horsefish (Hippocampus erectus) belongs to the family Syngnathidae in the order Syngnathiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits (raw datasets) · CC BY 4.0 · 2024-12-17
Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Horsefish (Hippocampus erectus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/hippocampus-erectus
“Horsefish (Hippocampus erectus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/hippocampus-erectus.
@misc{hippocampus_erectus_2026,
title = {Horsefish (Hippocampus erectus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/hippocampus-erectus},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}