“Missing” Zebra seahorse spotted by citizen scientist!

Earlier this year, we issued a call for help to find “missing” seahorse species – species that are known to science but lack observations or data on iSeahorse, our global citizen science project hosted on iNaturalist. Now, one of them has turned up: the Zebra seahorse (Hippocampus zebra). Thanks to a recent observation from citizen scientist Jon Biesse, we now have a second record of this rarely seen species. Jon spotted the Zebra seahorse in Western Australia while he was swimming alongside a whale shark. "It was the first one we've ever seen, and it was floating on the surface with a piece of sargassum in water about 20m of deep while we were swimming with a whale shark! There were no others that we saw, and we haven't seen one ever before,” Jon recalled. Native to Australia, the Zebra seahorse is a striking species known for the dark, zebra-like bands across its body. Despite its unique appearance, there is much we don’t know about it. The species is currently classified as Data Deficient, meaning there simply isn’t enough information to assess its risk of extinction. By sharing the sighting on iNaturalist with the iSeahorse Project, Jon is providing valuable data that will help scientists to further their understanding of the species to better protect it. "This is exactly why iSeahorse matters. The rare observation of Hippocampus zebra came not from a targeted survey, but from a citizen scientist sharing an observation. Even more exciting, this was one of our 'missing species' searches. Every observation has the potential to rewrite what we know about seahorses," said our research biologist, Elsa Camins. “I'm stoked that this observation is valuable to scientists. It makes me more appreciative of the interaction,” added Jon. With this, our search for missing seahorse species continues. If you have seen one or have any record of them, please share your observation with the iSeahorse project on iNaturalist.org. It could be the one that helps us learn more about them!