Camouflage of the seahorse Hippocampus reidi with plastic debris: an unusual type of protective resemblance

Camouflage is one of the strategies of reef fishes, in which they mimic other species or use the background to match the combination of their colors and textures (Randall 2005). Seahorses of the genusHippocampus in a pristine habitat generally use saturated colors to camouflage their colorful background using matching or confusing objects as a deceiving mode (Stevens u0026 Merilaita 2011). The present record is the first description of camouflage by the sea horse Hippocampus reidi Ginsburg, 1933 with plastic debris in mangroves from NE Brazil: Formoso River, Tamandare, Pernambuco State (8°41′01.51′′S, 35°06′25.92′′ W). During an exploratory underwater visual census December 18, 2011 at 09:26, one individual ofH. reidiwas observed at a depth of 3 meters matching plastic debris deposited on the sandy bottom (Fig. 1). The first position observed of the sea horse was the posterior region of its body hiding behind the plastic and using a confusing color as a deceiving mode (Fig. 1a). When approached by the observer the fish matched its head with some plastic spots and its tail with the sand (Figs. 1b, c). This case showed that H. reidi displayed a kind of protective resemblance, in which this camouflage is used for an