SEAHORSES - UNIQUE CREATURES
Seahorses usually live in tropical or temperate waters. There are about 35 different
species of seahorses, ranging from 50 degrees north to 50 degrees south latitude, with most
species occurring in the Western Atlantic Ocean and the IndoPacific region.
Seahorses were once considered mythological creatures. Their scientific name
hippocampus means "horse" and "sea monster." Although they appear quite different,
seahorses have all the characteristics that classify them as fish.
The height of a full-grown sea horse is between 1.6 cm and 30 cm. Seahorses also
vary in color, including orange, red, yellows, grey, and greens. They can come in patterns
like “zebra stripes” and spots.
Seahorses rely on camouflage in order to hunt and to avoid predators. Like octopuses
and chameleons, they have developed ways to change their appearance in order to match into
their habitat (corals and seagrass). Seahorses are able to grow skin filaments to match the
texture of their background and to change colors. They often display amazing color changes
in unusual surroundings or in social moments.
Seahorses live between 1 and 5 years in the wild (estimated). Their natural predators
are crabs, tuna, skates and rays.
Seahorses belong to the vertabra group, meaning they have an interior skeleton.
Because of their body shape, seahorses are poor swimmers and can easily die of exhaustion
when caught in storms in seas. They propel themselves by using a small fin on their back that
flutters up to 35 times per second. Even smaller pectoral fins located near the back of the
head are used for turning and steering. When resting or feeding, the seahorse curls its tail
around seaweed and corals, to keep it from floating away.
Seahorses cannot curl their tails backwards. They like to swim in pairs linked by their
tails.
Seahorses have no teeth and no stomach. Food passes through their digestive systems
so quickly, they must eat almost constantly to stay alive. They feed continually and can
consume 3,000 or more shrimp per day, small crustaceans and fish. Their mouth is actually a
long tube designed to suck up tiny organisms. Seahorses are ambush predators remaining still
until small animals swim by them. With a sudden move of its head, the seahorse sucks the
prey out of the water.
Seahorse eyes move independently of each other giving them a full 360 degree picture
of their surroundings. and this helps them spot food.Seahorses are always on the look out for
predators or a tasty meal
Seahorses are truly unique, and not just because of their unusual horse shape. Unlike
most other fish, they are loyal and monogamous and mate for life. Seahorses usually mate
under a full moon. During mating, the Seahorses utter musical sounds.
The males get pregnant! In the entire animal kingdom, these are the only animals in
which the male has babies! Male seahorses are equipped with small pouch on their front side.
The mating act begins with a long and complicated courtship dance. Linking their tails, the
pair swims through the sea grass. The female deposits her eggs to the male's pouch where he
fertilizes them internally. The eggs attach to the inside of the pouch. The male provides extra
oxygen for the developing babies during incubation. He alters the pouch fluid to resemble
seawater and eases the babies' transition into the ocean. He carries the eggs in his pouch until
they hatch, then releases fully formed, miniature seahorses into the water.
Seahorses mostly use body language to communicate. Some are known to make
clicking noises when they feed.
No one knows what happens to the seahorse during winter as it is only seen during the
summertime.
Habitat degradation is a real threat to seahorse populations as they mainly inhabit
shallow, coastal areas, which are highly influenced by human activities, such as dynamite
fishing. They are also used for Asian traditional medicine. Twenty-five million seahorses a
year are now being traded around the world - 64 percent more than in the mid-1990s - and
environmentalists are increasingly concerned that the bigger trade in seahorses is putting the
creatures at risk. Seahorses gained international protection on May 15, 2004.
