Common Seahorse vs Floating Fern

Hippocampus kuda compared with Salvinia natans

Key Differences

• Common Seahorse is Vulnerable while Floating Fern is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Seahorse	Floating Fern
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Tracheophyta
Class	Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fish)	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)
Order	Perciformes (Perch-like Fish)	Salviniales (Salviniales)
Family	Pomacentridae (Clownfish & Damselfish)	Salviniaceae
Genus	Amphiprion (Clownfish)	Salvinia
Species	Hippocampus kuda	Salvinia natans

Conservation Status

Common Seahorse

VU — Vulnerable

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Floating Fern

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Seahorse	Floating Fern
Diet	Carnivore	—
Average Lifespan	5 years	—
Average Length	17 cm	—
Average Weight	10 g	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Seahorse

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 7 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Philippines. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Floating Fern

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (4 countries), Europe (9 countries), North America (Honduras), and Oceania and the Pacific (Australia).

Common Seahorse

The common seahorse is found in tropical and temperate waters. Males carry and deliver the babies.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

🇦🇺 Australia 🇮🇩 Indonesia