Hippocampus planifrons, Peters 1877

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 : 35

H. planifrons Peters 1877

English common names. Flatface Seahorse, false-eye seahorse, false-eyed seahorse.

Synonyms. H. biocellatus Kuiter 2001 .

Distribution. Australia (Shark Bay and Exmouth Gulf).

Holotype. ZMB 9387.

Type locality. Naturalist’s Channel , Australia.

Notes. The type specimen of H. planifrons is bleached and eye spots cannot be discerned. The limited number of specimens examined by Kuiter (2001) for descriptions of H. biocellatus (6) and H. planifrons (4) did not display distinguishing characteristics when re-examined by SL (see Appendix K), aside from H. biocellatus having a deeper body (potentially confounded by ontogeny and sex differences among the specimens examined) and spot markings that are split (that again may reflect ontogenetic differences) and cannot be seen on the type specimen of H. planifrons . The name H. planifrons has chronological precedence, thus subsuming H. biocellatus as a junior synonym.