The pygmy seahorse was only recently discovered for the first time after a specimen of a gorgonian fan was bought in for research by a scientist whilst diving in Asia, Supremely well camouflaged the pygmy seahorse can grow to just 2cm in height and is therefore the smallest species of seahorse in the world. Large bulbous tubercles cover the species body which resembles the soft coral polyps of the host gorgonian fan making it extremely difficult to spot in its natural environment.

What is perhaps most fascinating about the Pygmy Seahorses is the way they have taken on the characteristics of so many other species of both marine and terrestrial life. Whilst it has the head of a horse, its tail is much like a monkey's which it uses to wrap around its host. It also has the pouch of a kangaroo to carry its young, the exoskeleton of an insect and the eye of a chameleon, making it one of the most impressive fish found in the ocean.

During courting behavior the male will attach itself to her hitching post and then proceed to vibrate his dorsal fin to attract her attention. She then extends her egg tube and will pass them into his pouch. The male seahorse then holds the eggs during pregnancy and is one of the only species of its kind to carry out birth. Pygmy seahorses are thought feed on the same zooplankton as their host polyps although very little is known about their life cycle thereafter.

Pygmy seahorses are found all over the world, but are especially widespread in the western pacific, specifically Indonesia, Papua, Fiji, and the Philippines.