2012. Review of Significant Trade - Cites

Hippocampus spinosissimus
permits are no longer issued for international trade in wild specimens (N. Perera, in litt. to
UNEP-WCMC, 2011).
THAILAND
Distribution in range State: The species was reported to occur in the Andaman Sea and the
Gulf of Thailand, with reports from Laem Sing and Chanthaburi, in eastern Thailand (Lourie
et al., 2005). H. spinosissimus was reported to occur in mangroves (Y. Getpech, in litt. to
UNEP-WCMC, 2011).
Population trends and status: H. spinosissimus appeared to be one of the more commonly
caught species in both the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand (Y. Getpech, in litt. to
UNEP-WCMC, 2011). However the species was categorised as Vulnerable in the Thai Red
Data Book 2005 (Vidthayanon, 2005) and the abundance of Hippocampus spp. was reported
to have declined (Perry et al., 2010).
Threats: The CITES Management Authority of Thailand (Y. Getpech, in litt. to UNEP-
WCMC, 2011) considered Hippocampus spp. to be threatened by habitat change, by-catch,
invasive species and trade for traditional medicine. Seahorse harvest was reported to be
mostly from by-catch and the genus was not targeted directly (Y. Getpech, in litt. to UNEP-
WCMC, 2011).
Overfishing was considered to be the main cause of observed population declines (Vincent,
1996), with annual Hippocampus spp. by-catch reported to consist of 2.1 million specimens
(Anon., 2001, cited in Perry et al., 2010). Furthermore, fishing for Hippocampus spp. was
reported to generally occur during the non-monsoon season from October to February,
which was thought to be the breeding season for many species (Vincent, 1996).
Trade: According to the CITES Trade Database, trade in H. spinosissimus originating in
Thailand 2004-2010 consisted exclusively of wild-sourced bodies traded for commercial
purposes (Table 1). Direct exports reported by Thailand notably exceeded trade reported by
importers (possibly because Thailand reported on permits issued rather than actual trade),
with 30 900 kg reported exported and 18 351 kg reported imported over this period. Both
exporter- and importer-reported trade decreased between 2005 and 2008, with importerreported
trade increasing slightly in 2009.
Table 1. Direct exports of Hippocampus spinosissimus from Thailand, 2004-2010 (with quantities
rounded to the nearest tenth of a kg, where applicable). All trade was in wild-sourced bodies. The
species was listed in Appendix II on 15/05/2004. (No trade was reported in 2010.)
Units Reported by 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Total
kg Exporter 4507.0 7767.5 5807.0 5556.0 4170.8 3092.1 30900.4
Importer 2082.8 4056.3 3142.7 3432.9 2763.1 2873.1 18351.0
- Exporter
Importer 100 100
Source: CITES Trade Database, UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK
Re-exports of H. spinosissimus originating in Thailand reported between 2004 and 2010
comprised 82.3 kg of bodies reportedly imported by Canada in 2008 and 2009 (not
confirmed by the re-exporter) and 32 kg of bodies reportedly re-exported by Singapore to
Hong Kong SAR in 2009 (trade reported by both trading partners). All re-exports were
reported as wild-sourced and for commercial purposes. Annual reports from Thailand have
been received for all years except 2010.
Within Thailand, H. spinosissimus was reported to be traded for traditional medicine, live
and as curios (Perry et al., 2010).
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