A rare seahorse found in a Cornish estuary is one of only a small number identified in Cornwall over the last decade, experts say.

Cornwall Council’s nature recovery officer Alicia Shephard spotted the long-snouted seahorse on a tideline during a lunchtime walk alongside an estuary.

Using her phone camera she filmed the tiny horse-like fish as it floated above the seabed.

Alicia then recorded the sighting with the Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (ERCCIS). The ERCCIS collates data on all species sightings in the region, not just the rare and protected, and disseminates it for research and conservation purposes.