Short Graham, Claassens Louw, Smith Richard, De Brauwer Maarten, Hamilton Healy, Stat Michael, Harasti David
Research Associate, Ichthyology, Australian Museum Research Institute, Sydney, Australia Australian Museum Research Institute Sydney Australia.
Research Associate, Ichthyology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, USA Ichthyology, California Academy of Sciences San Francisco United States of America.
Zookeys. 2020 May 19;934:141-156. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.934.50924. eCollection 2020.
A new species and the first confirmed record of a true pygmy seahorse from Africa, , is herein described on the basis of two specimens, 18.9-22 mm SL, collected from flat sandy coral reef at 14-17 meters depth from Sodwana Bay, South Africa. The new taxon shares morphological synapomorphies with the previously described central Indo-Pacific pygmy seahorses, , , , and , and , including diminutive size, twelve trunk rings, prominent cleithral ring and supracleithrum, spines on the fifth and twelfth superior and lateral trunk ridges, respectively, and prominent wing-like protrusions present on the first and/or second superior trunk rings posterior to the head. is primarily distinguished from its pygmy seahorse congeners by highly distinct spine morphology along the anterior segments of the superior trunk ridge. Comparative molecular analysis reveals that the new species demonstrates significant genetic divergence in the mitochondrial COI gene from the morphologically similar and (estimated uncorrected p-distances of 16.3% and 15.2%, respectively). represents the eighth member of the pygmy seahorse clade to be described from the Indo-Pacific, the first confirmed record from the African continent and the Indian Ocean, and an extension of more than 8000 km beyond the previously known range of pygmy seahorses from the Central and Western Indo-Pacific.
本文基于从南非索德瓦纳湾14至17米深的平坦沙质珊瑚礁采集的两个体长18.9 - 22毫米的标本，描述了一种新物种，这也是来自非洲的真正侏儒海马的首个经确认记录。该新分类单元与先前描述的中印度洋 - 太平洋侏儒海马，包括、、、以及和，具有形态共衍征，包括体型微小、十二个躯干环、明显的匙骨环和上匙骨、分别位于第五和第十二个上躯干脊及侧躯干脊上的棘，以及头部后方第一和/或第二个上躯干环上的明显翼状突出。主要通过上躯干脊前段高度独特的棘形态与其他侏儒海马同类相区分。比较分子分析表明，该新物种在线粒体COI基因上与形态相似的和表现出显著的遗传差异（估计未校正p距离分别为16.3%和15.2%）。代表了从印度洋 - 太平洋描述的侏儒海马分支的第八个成员，是非洲大陆和印度洋的首个经确认记录，并且比先前已知的中西印度洋侏儒海马分布范围延伸了超过8000公里。
