Thorny Seahorse - Juvenile

Description:

Spotted this tiny specimen towards the end of a dive while doing my safety stop. Saw a few floating sea grass blades/debris floating around and this one caught my attention! The width of the seagrass blade is less than 1 cm. This tiny beauty is 5 cm in length but very difficult to get a good picture of as it was floating near the surface. Spines protrude from head and body ridges, elongate snout usually with a few white bars; variable shades of red, brown, yellow or green, often with gold speckling.

Habitat:

During Juvenile phase, they may be oceanic and float around until they settled down in the shallows, mostly among sponges, sandy and coral rubble.