Hairy Pygmy Pipehorse

Throughout the Persian Gulf, seagrass beds have sustained extensive damage and loss due to extensive coastal development, sedimentation, trawling activities, and dredging during the construction of offshore man-made island structures. Adjacent to these sites, even non-dredged vegetated habitats are impacted by increased sedimentation associated with the dumping of dredge spoil at and around the original dredge sites. Coral substrata in the Persian Gulf is limited, but also have suffered damage (Sheppard et al. 2010). Manifa, where this species is recorded from, is near an area where extensive man-made structures have been constructed, therefore, it is likely that seagrass and shallow algal habitats have been negatively impacted (D. Feary pers. comm. 2014).Due to its mode of spawning (ovoviviparous brood pouch male parental care), fecundity in this species is comparatively low compared to non-brood pouch spawning fishes and therefore its capacity for population growth is more limited than other species. Furthermore, since there is no broadcast spawning of pelagic eggs, dispersal of potential recruits is limited. Additionally, given the limited swimming abilities of pipefishes, it is highly unlikely that rescue effects would occur from adjacent populations (Browne et al. 2008).