Seahorse

Tagged: animal, animals, cat, fish

Seahorse
( image )

Seahorse are found in the world’s warmer coastal waters, where they inhabit coral reefs, mangrove swams and seagrass meadows. Most species occurin the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, although two are known in northern European Waters. The Seahorse is actually a fish and despite its name, not related to horses at all. However it is unlike any other fish. This enchanting little creature swims almost upright, its gracefully arched upper body topped by a horse-like head with eyes that operate independently of each other. Instead of scales, the seahorse has a protective armour of bony plates, and it possesses a strong tail for gripping on to coral or sea plants. There are around 40 species but they all share an extraordinary reproductive cycle in which the male, not the female, goes through pregnancy.

Catching the Drift

Seahorse spend most of their day feeding on tiny crustaceans and other living organisms, called plankton, that drift in clouds through the oceans.They suck in passing food through their long, tubular snouts because seahorses have no teeth. By anchoring themselves by their prehensile tails to seaweed, they can stay motionless for long periods, avoiding the attention of predator and resisting sweeping currents.

Part of body

• eyes swivel – independenly to provide a wide range of vision
• long tubular snout – designed for probing and sucking in food
• brood pouch – develops on the male’s belly to receive the female’s eggs and carry the growing young
• small dorsal fin – beats rapidly to propel the seahorse along
• bony plates – form a protective covering for the entire body
• flexible tail – usually carried curled forwards, is used to grasp vegetation, coral or another seahorses

Statistic

• status – vulnerable; 1 species endangered
• lenght – 5-30 cm
• breeding season – all year around
• number of young – up to 600, depending on species
• diet – plankton
• lifespan – 1-4 years

Myth or fact

In greek mythology, a hippocampus was a fabulus sea creature with a horse’s head and forequarters and fish’s tail for its hindquarters. these giant seahorses were said to pull Neptune’s chariot. Neptune, another name for poseidan, was the king of the sea. The tiny seahorses found by fisherman were once believed to be the sea monsters brood.

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