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Sometimes it takes quite a long time before a (new) species can be correctly identified.
As early as 1987, a small male seahorse was caught with a trawl at a depth of 50 meters at the mouth of the Kosi River in Kosi Bay in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (see Figure 1 of the first description).
This seahorse was initially identified as Acentronura mossambica and is in the fish collection of SAIAB in Makhanda, South Africa.
Finding location Mile Reef, Sodwana Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Western Indian Ocean
The female specimen of Cylix nkosi (SAMC F041935), a new species, was collected by hand during a dive at 22 meters depth at Mile Reef in Sodwana Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in 2018 (Figs. 1–3). The specimen is deposited in the fish collection of the Iziko South African Museum (SAM) in Cape Town, South Africa.
Cylix nkosi has so far been recorded at two sites in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Sodwana Bay and Kosi Bay.
These two sites are within the boundaries of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that extends from Lake St. Lucia in the south to the Mozambique border in the north and encompasses the northern coast of KwaZulu-Natal Province.
The new species is likely to be more widespread along the tropical coast of the Indian Ocean in East Africa and has remained undetected, possibly due to its cryptic behavior and small size, its low abundance throughout its range, its rarity in the regions where surveys have been conducted, or misidentification as members of Acentronura or Hippocampus.
The southernmost coral reefs in Africa are found in the northern province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
They are dominated mainly by soft corals and branching stony corals of the genera Acropora and Pocillopora.
Future surveys of the fish fauna and observations by recreational divers could confirm their occurrence in northern regions such as Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya and in coastal areas off
Madagascar.
The southernmost coral reefs in Africa are located in the northern province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and are mainly dominated by soft corals and branching stony corals of the genera Acropora and Pocillopora.
Coloration:
Holotype in life size (Fig. 3), head, trunk and tail reddish brown; ventrolateral trunk area brown; head back speckled with translucent red dots; snout white.
On the back of the trunk, thin red filaments are visible.
Other specimens of Cylix nkosi observed at the site show a uniform background coloration in bright red, mustard yellow or light brown (Fig. 4A–D), which is apparently related to the coloration of the local growth of sessile invertebrates.
This species was observed in a protected sandy basins in otherwise exposed areas with accumulated debris near flat rocky reefs and were observed loosely associating with sandy worm casts, sponges, and small octocorals, using the sessile invertebrates as a holdfast for their prehensile tails.
Etymology:
The species name is derived from the Ngunior Zulu term for chief, because the strongly derived bony process on the upper occipital bone is shaped like a crown.
Literature reference
Short, Graham & Smith, Richard & Harasti, David & Claassens, Louw. (2024).
A New Record and Species of Pygmy Pipehorse of the Genus Cylix (Teleostei, Syngnathidae) from South Africa and the African Continent.
Ichthyology & Herpetology. 112. 10.1643/i2023053.
Literature reference:
Short, Graham & Smith, Richard & Harasti, David & Claassens, Louw. (2024).
A New Record and Species of Pygmy Pipehorse of the Genus Cylix (Teleostei, Syngnathidae) from South Africa and the African Continent.
Ichthyology & Herpetology. 112. 10.1643/i2023053.
As early as 1987, a small male seahorse was caught with a trawl at a depth of 50 meters at the mouth of the Kosi River in Kosi Bay in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (see Figure 1 of the first description).
This seahorse was initially identified as Acentronura mossambica and is in the fish collection of SAIAB in Makhanda, South Africa.
Finding location Mile Reef, Sodwana Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Western Indian Ocean
The female specimen of Cylix nkosi (SAMC F041935), a new species, was collected by hand during a dive at 22 meters depth at Mile Reef in Sodwana Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in 2018 (Figs. 1–3). The specimen is deposited in the fish collection of the Iziko South African Museum (SAM) in Cape Town, South Africa.
Cylix nkosi has so far been recorded at two sites in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Sodwana Bay and Kosi Bay.
These two sites are within the boundaries of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that extends from Lake St. Lucia in the south to the Mozambique border in the north and encompasses the northern coast of KwaZulu-Natal Province.
The new species is likely to be more widespread along the tropical coast of the Indian Ocean in East Africa and has remained undetected, possibly due to its cryptic behavior and small size, its low abundance throughout its range, its rarity in the regions where surveys have been conducted, or misidentification as members of Acentronura or Hippocampus.
The southernmost coral reefs in Africa are found in the northern province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
They are dominated mainly by soft corals and branching stony corals of the genera Acropora and Pocillopora.
Future surveys of the fish fauna and observations by recreational divers could confirm their occurrence in northern regions such as Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya and in coastal areas off
Madagascar.
The southernmost coral reefs in Africa are located in the northern province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and are mainly dominated by soft corals and branching stony corals of the genera Acropora and Pocillopora.
Coloration:
Holotype in life size (Fig. 3), head, trunk and tail reddish brown; ventrolateral trunk area brown; head back speckled with translucent red dots; snout white.
On the back of the trunk, thin red filaments are visible.
Other specimens of Cylix nkosi observed at the site show a uniform background coloration in bright red, mustard yellow or light brown (Fig. 4A–D), which is apparently related to the coloration of the local growth of sessile invertebrates.
This species was observed in a protected sandy basins in otherwise exposed areas with accumulated debris near flat rocky reefs and were observed loosely associating with sandy worm casts, sponges, and small octocorals, using the sessile invertebrates as a holdfast for their prehensile tails.
Etymology:
The species name is derived from the Ngunior Zulu term for chief, because the strongly derived bony process on the upper occipital bone is shaped like a crown.
Literature reference
Short, Graham & Smith, Richard & Harasti, David & Claassens, Louw. (2024).
A New Record and Species of Pygmy Pipehorse of the Genus Cylix (Teleostei, Syngnathidae) from South Africa and the African Continent.
Ichthyology & Herpetology. 112. 10.1643/i2023053.
Literature reference:
Short, Graham & Smith, Richard & Harasti, David & Claassens, Louw. (2024).
A New Record and Species of Pygmy Pipehorse of the Genus Cylix (Teleostei, Syngnathidae) from South Africa and the African Continent.
Ichthyology & Herpetology. 112. 10.1643/i2023053.
