The species is named for Georges Bargibant, who collected the gorgonian for the Nouméa museum. The seahorses were found on the specimen after collection, not observed in place, which is a fair measure of how complete the camouflage is: the fish is under two centimetres long and its body is covered in rounded tubercles matching the size, spacing and colour of the host coral's polyps.
The match is host-specific. Bargibant's pygmy seahorse is known only from gorgonians of the genus Muricella, and individuals occur in colour forms corresponding to their host, typically pink with red tubercles or yellow with orange. Evidence suggests the colouration develops after settlement on a host rather than being fixed at birth, which would explain the correspondence.
Several further pygmy seahorse species have been described since, some free-living on soft coral or algae rather than on gorgonians, and at least one was again recognised from museum or aquarium material before being studied in the wild. Their small size makes population assessment difficult, and diver pressure at known sites is a recognised concern.