Please ID this pygmy seahorse

Wow, that is the first time I've seen a seahorse totally overgrown with hydroids - whoa!

Cheers

James

Are you absolutely sure there's a seahorse there? If so, do you have other images?

I'd go with bryozoan unless of course CAdiver actually saw it moving from branch to branch in which case it's an incredible mimic.

That's it! The word I was looking for. I wanted to post "that window-screen looking stuff."

LOL.

So the seahorse was actually moving around and functioning while totally coated like that? I have seen frogfish w/ stuff like this growing on them - and it's certainly possible w/ a critter like a seahorse that has an exoskeleton

James

Hmm where did you find it around Seraya, CAdiver? I'll go look for it and get a sample.

Are you absolutely sure there's a seahorse there? If so, do you have other images?

Can bryozoan grow to looks like a seahorse with eyes & stuffs ... ?

I did not see it move from branch to branch. The little piece closer (like a chicken leg bone) appears to look more like bryozoan I agree but the seahorse in the middle is very pygme like.

As I said in flickr ( ) I actually thought it was a crab when I shot the photo ! Later found out it looks like a pygmy. I have a total of 3 shots at this thing but the posted picture has the best overall representation. I will post another closer-up look of the head tonite after I get home on flickr. It was sighted in Seraya Tulamben, right in the middle section. If you go out straight from that 2 story luxry white house next to a bunch of bungalows and decent and dive south bound, you will find the cleaning station at about 22 meters, we went back the next day to look for it but couldn't find it again. The area was a heavily dove site (there is a cleaning station a few meters away), so we suspect it got washed away.

Can bryozoan grow to looks like a seahorse with eyes & stuffs ... ?

Yes actually. It's amazing how often we get fooled by our instinct to see a dot or two and picture a face especially if the main structure looks vaguely like somebody's body. My first reaction was that it's an oddly shaped bryozoan. I'd like it to be a pygmy just because it would be so very cool.

Yes actually. It's amazing how often we get fooled by our instinct to see a dot or two and picture a face especially if the main structure looks vaguely like somebody's body. My first reaction was that it's an oddly shaped bryozoan. I'd like it to be a pygmy just because it would be so very cool.

Well there's also the bit about no visible gills. I'll get Alex to look too.

I don't think it is a seahorse. But I would love to be proved wrong by another angle.

Although it does make me wonder why we don't see really small/young individuals of larger seahorse species that are common in the same region as pygmies (e.g. H. kuda/histrix etc) hiding out in places. I wonder where they go?

Alex

I dont think it's a seahorse either. Most animals (including humans) will react very strongly, and often wrong, when confronted with something that looks like an eye. There is a reason lots of animals use eyes as camouflage.

I think it's bryozoan that looks vaguely like a sea horse. But remove the eye in photoshop and I think the image is a lot weaker.

The key question is, did it move at all. Even just shake its head or whatever. I have never seen a sea horse remain absolutely still in the presence of a diver. Something always moves

In a way I hope we're all wrong though, because that would be the best find ive ever seen on wetpixel.

Cor

That's ok, if it's not, it's not.

Here are a couple more shots of the thing. I think the eye does looks like an eye but I don't know much

about these things. It's true, the gill doesn't seems to be there. Does bryozoan moves/travel ? We dedicated an hour dive the next day to find it again? We couldn't find it & this is diving with the best dive guide in TaucTerminal one on one, we went back to the same cleaning station, the same harlequin shrimp hide out but no pygme or byozoan. BTW, I did not modify anything in Photoshop other then crop the head out. The other one is untouch original NEF save into JPEG.

Come to look at this more on the second pictures, there is something behind that looks like growing to become a pygmy looking thing too, isn't it but not mature yet, so it's all brownish ?!

I found a real one :-)

http://flickr.com/photos/cadiver/1228662263/