Rare seahorse normally found in the Mediterranean discovered living in the THAMES

Rare seahorse normally found in the Mediterranean discovered living in the THAMES

Mangalore Today News Network

Seahorses may be spreading in the Thames thanks to improvements in the water quality, experts believe.

A juvenile short-snouted seahorse was discovered as far upriver as Greenwich, suggesting that a colony of the fish, which mate for life after elaborate courtship rituals, must be breeding in the area.

The short-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus hippocampus), which grows up to 15cm (6in), is more commonly found in the waters of the Mediterranean and Canary Islands.

The baby seahorse, pictured, measures just two inches and experts believe the seahorses, normally found in the Mediterranean and Canary Islands, are breeding

It has often been a visitor to coastal waters around Britain but the Environment Agency, which made the latest discovery during a routine fisheries survey, said it had never been found so far upriver.

Emma Barton, the agency’s fisheries officer, said: ‘The seahorse we found was only 5cm (2in) long, a juvenile, suggesting that they may be breeding nearby.

‘This is a really good sign that seahorse populations are not only increasing but spreading to locations where they haven’t been seen before. We routinely survey the Thames at this time of year and this is a really exciting discovery.

‘We hope that further improvements to  water quality and habitat in the Thames will encourage more of these rare species to take up residence in the river.’

Rare breed: A fully grown short-snouted seahorse. The last sighting of seahorses in the Thames was much further down the river in Dagenham in 2008

The last seahorses spotted in the Thames were much further down the river in Dagenham in 2008.

They were seen as evidence of the transformation of the Thames from a ‘biologically dead’ river in the 1950s, as a result of sewage and industrial pollution, to a far cleaner waterway today.

Sighting: Aerial view of Greenwich Peninsula. The sightings at Greenwich suggest there may be permanent populations here