This new species of Pygmy Seahorse was first seen at the beginning of 2001, in the house reef of the only resort in the small island of Walea, in the Togian archipelago (East Sulawesi). I heard about it soon after that and fortunately, in August 2004, I had my first opportunity to go there to see and photograph this tiny marvel of nature. All these first photos were shot at a depth of 12 meters, on the top of a pinnacle which hosted few small soft corals of genus Nephtea, with colors from white to a pale green. The pinnacle was just few meters from the jetty and shallow, so I could go there every day, even between dives, to have a look and shoot more photos. I believe that four different subjects can be identified from these photos:

1. Photos 1-6, 9, 12: A specimen with a round belly, presumably a female ready to transfer eggs. It has red areas on the back and sides, but not on the belly.
2. Photos 7, 8, 11: It looks like another pregnant female and has the same red areas on the back and sides, but also has a distinctive horizontal stripe, joining a red round spot on the belly, clearly visible in photo 8.
3. Photo 7: This photo shows two specimen, one of them a juvenile, darker and slim.
4. Photo 10: This specimen is the only one without an inflated belly. It also has a red spot on it's belly, but with a different shape and size, compared to the previous ones.

At the beginning of 2009 this species has been officially named Hippocampus waleananus. Very little information is available at the moment. The only knowledge comes from direct observation and from few photos. Because of its tiny dimension, some photos I've seen didn't show sharp enough details. I hope, with my photos, to add something to the knowledge of this beautiful pygmy seahorse. Any feedback is always welcome!  [Top]

Description:

	Details: the short spine on the back

This species is very small. I shot some of these photos at the minimum distance allowed for focusing, thus having a 1:1 enlargement rate, with my 100 mm. macro lens. Later I measured subjects size on my slides and the biggest body size found was only 6 mm. The tail is very thin and long, compared to the body. Its size could be estimated at 8 or 9 mm. Thus, total size should be about 15 mm., similar but probably smaller than Hippocampus denise, which is considered the smallest pygmy seahorse, with its «average» size of 16 mm, so far known to date.
The snout is short, with darker jaws. Bright red small spots are around the eyes and near gills opening. All the body, including tail, has very small white and round protuberances, clearly visible in all photos. The color is light pink with darker areas, from red to light brown.

	Details: the tail

It has, on its coronet and back, two short pale spines, without obvious branches. The latter is bigger, but still no more than 0.5 mm. long. The transparent dorsal fin, just above the tail, is nearly a square with a 1 mm. side.
The long and thin tail has broad bands of the same reddish brown color on the back. Well distributed along the tail, there are short spiny protuberances, which probably help to grab onto the soft coral branches on which this species lives and finds shelter. While swimming, the tail is kept fully rolled up, making this seahorse almost invisible to our eyes.  [Top]

Habitat:

	The host coral

Opposite to the more known Hippocampus bargibanti and Hippocampus denise and like Hippocampus pontohi, this species prefers shallow waters: as I said before, all photos were shot at the depth of 12 meters (39 Ft). All previous findings occurred at similar depths or less. For a long time one specimen lived on a coral at a depth of only 3.5 meters (12 Ft), just in front of the resort jetty. The coral, chosen as their habitat, belongs to the genus Nephtea, a small Alcyonarian very common in those waters. It forms stiff, spiny colonies, usually no more than 30 cm. in height. The polyps are armed with supporting bundles of spicules. Colonies are not brightly colored, mostly tan, grey, cream or white to pale green.
It's impossible to estimate the actual population of this pygmy seahorse. After the first finding, several specimen have been spotted, for limited time, in different places of the few hundred meters long reef, along the south side of Walea Island. I've heard of no reports of findings in any other locations.  [Top]

Behavior:

I spent a long time, during my stay in Walea, observing this pygmy seahorse. It normally stays still and well hidden between the spiny polyps of the coral. But it can be very mobile, if disturbed. When this happens, it lets go its hold and starts swimming, often for nearly one minute, floating around without any visible movement of its body. The pinnacle hosted, on its top, several small corals and I've often seen this pygmy seahorse swimming from one to another, sometimes even covering the whole circumference of the pinnacle. This swimming ability and behavior is very similar to Hippocampus pontohi and very different from 'Gorgonians' species Hippocampus bargibanti and Hippocampus denise, which in very few occasions, when disturbed, let go of their hold for just a very quick relocation of few centimeters only.
I believe it is very shy and also very sensitive to all light sources, even though it chose a shallow habitat, with plenty of natural light. I've always tried to photograph it during maximum light hours to reduce my strobe impact, once I realized it didn't appreciate my attentions, but even so very often he started swimming to a more hidden and sheltered place.