Hippocampus zebra, Whitley 1964

Sara A. Lourie, Riley A. Pollom & Sarah J. Foster, 2016, A global revision of the Seahorses Hippocampus Rafinesque 1810 (Actinopterygii: Syngnathiformes): Taxonomy and biogeography with recommendations for further research, Zootaxa 4146 (1), pp. 1-66 : 44-45

H. zebra Whitley 1964

English common names. Zebra Seahorse.

Synonyms. H. montebelloensis Kuiter 2001

Holotype. AMS IB.6015. Paratype: AMS IB.2819. Type locality. Gillett Cay, Swain Reefs , Queensland, Australia.

Distribution. Australia.

Notes. Some specimens of H. trimaculatus have zebra-stripes, however these can be separated from H. zebra on the basis of meristic counts (Appendix D) and their less distinct coronet (Lourie et al. 2004). Note that the paratype of H. zebra is one such misidentification. Specimens from the west coast of Australia described as H. montebelloensis by Kuiter (2001) have identical meristic data, and underwater photographs show distinct zebrastriped specimens supporting synonymization. No genetic data are yet available.