IUCN Red List Assessment
Red List Category
VU
Vulnerable
Red List Criteria
A4cd
Version
3.1
Year Assessed
2003
Assessor/s
Project Seahorse
Reviewer/s
Foster, S.J., Marsden, A.D. & Vincent, A.C.J. (Syngnathid Red List Authority)
Contributor/s
Justification
H. ingens is listed as Vulnerable (VU A4cd) based on inferred declines of at least 30% caused by targeted catch, incidental capture and habitat degradation. While there is little information on changes in numbers of the species, there is indirect evidence to suggest that declines have taken place and are continuing. This listing is consistent with the precautionary approach of the IUCN.
Hippocampus ingens is traded for traditional medicine, curios and aquaria (Vincent and Perry, in prep.). They are targeted as aquarium fishes in Mexico, and are incidentally caught, as bycatch, by the shrimp trawl fishery and other fisheries along the Pacific coasts of Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama, and are affected by habitat degradation in Mexico and Panama (J. Baum, unpublished data). Fishers' and traders' evidence of declines in seahorse availability raise concern for this species.
Hippocampus ingens is traded for traditional medicine, curios and aquaria (Vincent and Perry, in prep.). They are targeted as aquarium fishes in Mexico, and are incidentally caught, as bycatch, by the shrimp trawl fishery and other fisheries along the Pacific coasts of Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama, and are affected by habitat degradation in Mexico and Panama (J. Baum, unpublished data). Fishers' and traders' evidence of declines in seahorse availability raise concern for this species.
History
- 1996Vulnerable
