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The World's Smallest Seahorse

By grrlscientist on February 9, 2009.

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Satomi's pygmy seahorse, endemic to Indonesia, is one of the world's tiniest seahorses. Two adults would fit head-to-head across the face of a penny and their offspring are each about the size of a 12-point apostrophe.

Image: Stephen Wong and Takako Uno/National Geographic.

At under half an inch tall (13 millimeters), Satomi's pygmy seahorse -- named after dive guide Satomi Onishi -- is a strong contender for the world's smallest seahorse. With their tails stretched out straight, two Satomi's pygmy seahorses would fit head-to-head across the face of a penny.

These miniscule seahorses from Indonesian reefs have been seen giving birth to tiny offspring, each about the size of a 12-point apostrophe.

Together with two other species, Satomi's pygmy seahorses were named in a December 2008 study.

Read more about them!

Tags
fish
image of the day
Photography
south pacific islands
zoology
indonesia
marine life
seahorse
wildlife
fish
image of the day
Photography
south pacific islands
zoology

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Boy, does this capture my imagination and bring back my days of diving in the tropics! I never saw this one, but the rare times I saw a seahorse I was smitten.

Hmm....wait a second. This 12-point font we're looking at.... what resolution are we using? 800 x 600? 1400 x 1050?

:)

WOOW!!!! it's soooo beautiful i don't have words.....