ABOUT

The Cambodian Seahorse Conservation Project was launched in 2007 as a long-term research and conservation initiative. The project monitors seahorses and their critical habitats along Cambodia’s coastline, with a primary focus on Kep Province, especially around Koh Ach Seh.
The project aims to improve understanding of seahorse populations, distribution, habitat use, and the ecological conditions that support them. It is closely linked to the Cambodian Seagrass Conservation Project, as healthy seagrass meadows are essential habitats for seahorses.
Seahorses are fish, despite their horse-like head, bony-plated body, and prehensile tail. They belong to the genus Hippocampus within the family Syngnathidae, which also includes pipefish, pipehorses, and seadragons. Of the 46 known seahorse species worldwide, four species have been recorded so far in the Kep Archipelago: Hippocampus moneki, H. trimaculatus, H. spinosissimus, and H. kuda. Among these, H. kuda is the most commonly sighted species, followed by H. spinosissimus.
In Cambodia, seahorses inhabit shallow coastal waters at depths ranging from 1 to 30 meters. They favor sheltered environments such as seagrass meadows, rocky reefs, mangroves, sandy bottoms, and coral reefs. Because seahorses typically cling to substrates rather than swim freely, they have small home ranges and high habitat fidelity, making them highly sensitive to habitat degradation. Their monogamous behavior and unique reproductive strategy, where males brood eggs in a pouch, also limit reproduction rates, meaning population recovery can be slow.
Across Cambodia, seahorses face significant threats from human activities, including fisheries interactions and coastal development, which can degrade and destroy critical habitats. Globally, many Syngnathids are listed as vulnerable or endangered on the IUCN Red List, and seahorses are included on Cambodia’s list of endangered and protected species.