Fiji - Meet the Pontoh's Pygmy Seahorses

Meet these little guys - Pontoh's pygmy seahorses in the Rainbow Reef!

Pygmy seahorses, they are species of tiny seahorse. They range in length from 1.4 to 2.7cm in measuring from the tip of the tail to the end of the snout. They are not just tiny, they are also well camouflaged. Therefore, they are hard to find and rare to see.
As far as we known, there are eight named species of pygmy seahorses, seven new species were officially named since 21st century and Pontoh's pygmy seahorse is one of them which was named in 2008. 

Pontoh's pygmy seahorses can be found in the Coral Triangle area. Fiji is another one of the place you can see them though they are more commonly seen in Indonesia.
This type of seahorse is free living and moves frequently to different spots. They are not like some other pygmy seahorses that live on gorgonian corals for most of their life. Also, they are smaller compared to other species, under 1.7cm length from the tip of the tail to the end of the snout. So they are very hard to find in the first place.
If you are lucky enough to spot one, you may likely to find more of them as they are commonly found living in pairs or small groups. They normally live on in clumps of the calcareous algea -Halimeda or on hydroids.

I am so lucky to see the Pontoh's pygmy seahorses twice in the Rainbow Reef and it is my first sight of a pygmy seahorse.
The first time I saw them at the dive site called Jerry's Jelly where they were in a pair, their tails were hanging on the dead segment of Halimeda algae (which they mimic) on rubble bottom, under the rock edge of a big bommie. They were super super tiny!
I could barely see them as they were so hidden and well camouflaged. They are both in dark brown colour with bright red patches on their coronet and along the outer trunk ridge as well as some tiny white dots on the whole body.

Even more excitingly was that my dive guide signalled us one of them were carrying babies! Then I started noticing one of them looked bigger compared to the other one, its keel area was popping out, like the belly of someone pregnant. That's the male seahorse who carries the eggs in the brood pouch. It is fascinating! Yes! In seahorse world, it is the male who carries babies.

My first sighting of them was so exciting. After that, we went to the same spot of the dive site to look for them, but they were not there anymore. I never thought I would see them again.

Then one of the dive guides spot these little guys at another dive site at Swirling Rainbow. A few days ago, the dive guide took us there and I saw them again. It was incredible. They were also in pair, in much more open area on the rubble patch under a huge ledge. The colour of this pair was very different than the first pair I saw. One of them is in golden colour, its snout is in lighter colour. The other one is in light brownish colour. They were just holding on the algae with their tail and chilling.  

It is incredible to see these tiny seahorses. Even though they are species that tend to move around, it is likely that they will be around at the same spot for at least few days from my observation. They are so cute. I can't wait to see more of them and other species of pygmy seahorses. Looking forward for more new species being discovering. 

If you are interested to know more about pygmy seahorses, this article is very informative and very good - "Pygmy Seahorse Facts and Images" by Dr. Richard Smith.