Journal archives for January 2015

January 6, 2015

New online training course on wild seahorse population monitoring

Great news for those who want to take seahorse citizen science to the next level: We've just launched a free online training course that teaches you how to do long-term monitoring of wild seahorse populations.

Course objectives:

  • Learn how to find possible locations for seahorses
  • Understand how citizen scientists can contribute data for conservation and research
  • Identify different species of seahorses
  • Be able to collect data on seahorses and their habitat underwater and submit data to iSeahorse

Seahorse trends monitors are an important part of citizen science, as the data you collect can be used to map population and habitat changes over time, identify threats, and kickstart conservation action.

Check it out!

Posted on January 6, 2015 10:19 PM by projectseahorse projectseahorse | 0 comments | Leave a comment

January 8, 2015

Technical issues with iSeahorse Explore for iPhone

Please note that the iSeahorse app for iPhone is experiencing some functionality issues with the newest version of iOS. We're working to fix this bug as soon as possible.

If you're using iOS 8.1 or higher, we recommend uploading your seahorse observations to iSeahorse via the iNaturalist app for iPhone.

For instructions on how to upload your observations to iSeahorse via the iNat app, visit our Apps page and scroll down to the Android section. (The procedure is the same for both iPhone and Android.)

Posted on January 8, 2015 10:06 PM by projectseahorse projectseahorse | 0 comments | Leave a comment

January 29, 2015

January’s iSeahorse Feature Observation: Denise’s Pygmy Seahorse by ajeffrey

The first iSeahorse Feature Observation of 2015 comes to us from user ajeffrey, who was diving in Komodo National Park. Located in southern Indonesia, the park is apparently a hotspot for pygmy seahorses (recall our July 2014 Feature Observation of multiple Bargibant’s Pygmy seahorses).

Denise’s pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus denise) is so small and well-camouflaged that it was only formally described in 2003. Like other pygmy seahorses, this species is associated with coral hosts that it mimics in appearance. Similar in size and stature to Bargibant's pygmy seahorse, recent research has shown that this species is much less faithful to a single host species and can take up residence on a number of different corals. It also appears to behave more promiscuously than its closest relative.

As would be expected for a recently described species, scientists have thus far obtained very little information about Denise’s pygmy seahorse (the species is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List). We hope that this and many more sightings like it on iSeahorse will contribute to a better understanding of these amazing tiny creatures.


Posted on January 29, 2015 10:49 PM by projectseahorse projectseahorse | 0 comments | Leave a comment