AN ENDANGERED species of seahorse, found swimming off Southend, has now been given special protection.

Single instances of short-snouted seahorses have been found in the Thames Estuary since at least 2004 when one was found by a Leigh fisherman.

The seahorse, named Brian after the fisherman who caught him, was kept at the Sealife Adventure in Southend until the animal died last year.

However, for the past 18 months, the Zoological Society of London has been carrying out conservation surveys and it has found what is thought to be a breeding population of the seahorses.

The society applied for the animals to be given special protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Alison Shaw, manager of the society's freshwater conservation programme, said: "These amazing creatures have been found in the Thames on a number of occasions in the past 18 months during our regular wildlife monitoring work.

"It demonstrates the Thames is becoming a sustainable biodiverse habitat for aquatic life.

"It is not clear how endangered short-snouted seahorses are because there is little data known, particularly in the UK, so every scrap of information is valuable.

"Now they are protected, conservationists are more relaxed about telling the world they are there."

David Knapp, curator at Southend's Sealife Adventure, said: "This is great news. There are now 120 different species of fish in the Thames.

"The Thames isn't the dirty urban waterway it used to be.

"We certainly knew about the short-snouted seahorses in the estuary. We had a live one brought in 2004 and before that, one which died, in 2000.

"They're not common, but they're sporadically found."

For more information on the Zoological Society of London go to www.projectseahorse.org

Off-limits habitat

The short-snouted seahorses (Hippocampus hippocampus) are usually found in shallow muddy waters, estuaries or seagrass beds, often in the Mediterranean and Atlantic.

The seahorse, alongside the water vole, angel shark, roman snail and long-snouted seahorse, has gained protection against being killed, injured, or taken from the wild, thanks the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is now an offence to damage or obstruct the short-snouted and long-snouted seahorses' place of shelter.

Other unusual species which have made their home in the Thames include the red mullet, anchovies and bass.