New Indian Ocean seahorse named after UBC marine biologist Amanda Vincent
An international team of researchers has identified a new seahorse species from the Indian Ocean and named it Hippocampus amandavincentae after Dr. Amanda Vincent, director and co-founder of Project Seahorse at the University of British Columbia. The fish, which measures 16 centimetres long, was first found among fish bycatch at Tuticorin harbour in southern India. Scientists had encountered this seahorse for more than a century without recognizing it as a distinct species. Its range is believed to extend across the Indian Ocean, from Mozambique to the Red Sea to India. The study describing the species was published in the taxonomy journal Zootaxa. Dr. Vincent was the first biologist to study seahorses underwater, the first to document the extensive trade in these fishes, and the first to initiate a seahorse conservation project. In 2021, she became the first marine biologist to receive the Indianapolis Prize, the world's leading animal conservation award.
The naming recognizes three decades of work that established seahorse conservation as a field and put these fishes on the global conservation agenda.
Source: New seahorse species named after UBC marine conservationist (science.ubc.ca). Spotted via Good Good Good.
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