Classification

Hippocampus Kelloggi
Domain- Eukaryota
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Chordata
Class- Osteichthyes
Order-Gasterosteiformes
Family- Syngnathidae
Genus- Hippocampus
Species- Hippocampus Kelloggi (Great Seahorse)

Domain:Eukaryota
Hippocampus kelloggis belong in the domain Eukarya, which comes from the Latin roots, “eu” meaning “true” and “karya” which means “nucleus.”  Great seahorses are classified under this domain because they have cells which have true nuclei as well as membrane-bound organelles.

Kingdom: Animalia
Hippocampus kelloggis are part of the kingdom Animalia because they are  mulitcellular, heterotrophic, lacks a cell wall and they are motile at some point in their lifecycle.

Phylum: Chordata
This organism is classified under this phylum due to having these five main characteristics in some point of their lifecycle: a notochord, a tubular nerve chord, a pharyngeal pouches, and a postanal tail. Great Seahorses are also part of this group because they have segmented bodies, a coelom,  a complete digestive tract and three germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm. They are also bilaterally symmetrical. 

Class: Osteichthyes
Great seahorses are part of this class because they are bony vertebrae and live in water.

Order: Gasteristeiformes
Hippocampus kelloggis are found in this order since their bodies are covered in dermal plates.

Family: Syngnathidae
Great seahorses belong to the family Syngnathidae because they they have fused jaws.

Genus: Hippocampus
"Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek hippos meaning "horse" and kampos meaning “sea monster." A close relative to the Hippocampus Kelloggi is the Hippocampus ingens.

Species: Hippocampus kelloggi
The Hippocampus kelloggi is also known as great seahorse.

This phylogenic tree illustrates how the Hippocampus kelloggi is related to several different species of seahorse. This tree is based off of morphology as well as being labeled where they can be found. The Hippocampus kelloggi is classified by the size, location, as well as by its coronet.

This phylogenic tree above represents the one of the most basic ways to seperate organisms into some pretty large groups of classifications. The very first line represents the ancestor of all organisms. Then it is divided into three different domains, Bacteria, Achaea and Eukarya. The Eukarya branches off into several different kingdoms. The one that seahorses are classified under is Animalia. Branching off of Animalia are several groups, where seahorses are listed under the Chordates.

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