Opercular Beat Frequency of Long-Snouted Seahorse, Hippocampus Guttulatus Cuvier 1829

For species that are threatened or deserving of specific conservation initiatives, it is extremely useful to evaluate the distress conditions through non-invasive methods. Opercular beat frequency is, today, considered a valid method as a proxy for the stress conditions of many marine organisms. The presents study aims to present preliminary data to identify respiration patterns during normal activity for three different life stages of European long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus Cuvier 1829), adult females, adult males and pregnant males. Given the poor swimming skills and small home ranges of these fishes, information on the stress generated by natural (heat waves) and anthropogenic pressures (i.e. divers, underwater photographers) becomes crucial to provide baseline data for a code of conduct to be applied in seahorse populations management and conservation.