Marine Biodiversity Expedition 2012 49 ¹Institute of Biological Science, Universiti Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur. ²Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences (IOES), Universiti Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur. Introduction (Froese & Pauly, 2011). The family is characterised by its special adaptation to parental care through sex-role reversal, where the female deposits its eggs to a special brooding areA in males (Kuiter, 2009). A total of 50 species in 18 genera of syngnathids were recorded in Malaysian waters encompassing all aquatic habitats. Sabah is listed as the region with the highest diversity of syngnathids in Malaysia with a total of 40 species followed by Peninsular Malaysia with 29 listed species (Lim et al., 2011). Syngnathids are known to be important in ecological, economical, medicinal and cultural terms (Vincent et al its conservation. Under the IUCN Red list, most syngnathids listed are either vulnerable or data Genus Hippocampus) are placed in Appendix II in the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES 2002). Little is known of the syngnathid diversity in the waters surrounding the Sembilan Archipelago, over 8 survey sites. Objectives The aims of this study include: 1. To determine the species of syngnathids found in the Sembilan archipelago. 2. To document their distribution and microhabitats in the coral reef and associated habitats. Methodology A total of 533 minutes of semi-quantitative in-water survey (SCUBA-diving) was conducted over were photographed. Information on the habitat where the specimens were found was also recorded. BIODIVERSITY-SYNGNATHIDS (SYNGNATHIDAE) OF KEPULAUAN SEMBILAN by Adam Lim Chee Ooi¹ and Chong Ving Ching²