ID guides

What seahorse is that?

Identifying seahorses can be difficult, even for seasoned professionals!
We recommend using one of the following identification guides found here.
Choose the one appropriate to your region, or use the main ID guide book found at the bottom of the page.

ID Guide for Large Seahorses in Southeast Asia. Our definitive, regularly updated guide. Includes diagrams and techniques for identifying Large Seahorses in Southeast Asia. (English |Simplified Chinese |Khmer | Malay | Thai)

Simplified ID Guide for Southeast Asian Seahorses. A simplified version of our ID Guide for seahorses in southeast Asia. Ideal for printing and taking into the field. (English | Simplified Chinese |  Bahasa Indonesian | Thai | Vietnamese)

ID guide for Eastern Atlantic Seahorses. Our definitive, regularly updated guide. Includes diagrams and techniques for identifying seahorses in the Eastern Atlantic (English)

ID guide for Seahorses of the Americas. Our definitive, regularly updated guide. Includes diagrams and techniques for identifying seahorses in the Americas (English | Spanish)

ID guide book (English). Developed in collaboration with TRAFFIC North America, the Guide to the Identification of Seahorses (2004) includes detailed descriptions and images of all species recognized by Project Seahorse at the time of writing. It provides a straightforward methodology for identifying seahorses. [PLEASE NOTE that the species list has since been updated as per Lourie et al 2016, so some species are no longer valid.]

[Updated 14 April 2023]