SINGAPORE – Hidden among seagrass meadows and coral reefs, seahorses and their slender cousins, the pipefish, have gone relatively unnoticed, and not much is known about them locally.

A Singapore marine scientist hopes to change that.

Over the next two years, senior research fellow Neo Mei Lin from the National University of Singapore’s Tropical Marine Science Institute will be heading a citizen science project to uncover more about the diversity and distribution of these elusive creatures in local waters.

The project is funded by Mandai Nature, the conservation arm of Mandai Wildlife Group, under the Singapore Conservation Impact Grant, where applicants can apply for up to $50,000 for a project spanning more than one year but not more than two years.

From June, researchers will be carrying out reviews of previous research to identify hot spots, as well as working with community partners and nature groups to carry out field surveys. 

“We know that these creatures are around on our shores, but we don’t know what species there are and how they are doing,” she said. “Even though seahorses are iconic fish, they are really hard to spot, which results in them being often overlooked.” 

The seahorse and pipefish often serve as flagship species for marine conservation because of their iconic features. They are also important predators of organisms at the bottom of the sea.

Singapore is home to three species of seahorses – the spotted seahorse, tiger tail seahorse and Japanese seahorse – as well as 19 pipefish species. 

As little is known about them, only six of these fishes received a conservation status on the Singapore Red List, which assesses and classifies local flora and fauna based on the risk of extinction.