Seahorses

Seahorses are vertebrate fish. Technically, their taxanomic classification is the Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Chordata, Sub-phylum Vertebrata, Class Osteichthyes and Order Perciformes. They belong to the family Syngnathidae (syn - together or with [Greek] and gnathos - jaw [Greek]) which includes seadragons, pipefishes and pipehorses. Seahorses make up the genus Hippocampus (hippo - horse [Greek] and campos - sea animal [Greek]). They live in warm or temperate salt water off the coasts of Australia and the United States. They make their homes in reefs and seaweed. They are typically found at depths between .5 - 30 meters. In the reefs and seaweed, they have good protection from predators as well as a plenty of twigs to anchor themselves to.

There are around 40 different species of seahorses. This includes:

They all range in size from 6 - 12 inches although most fall in the 6 inch category. The color range of sea horses is enormous! They can be white, yellow, red, brown, black, gray, spotted or banded.

Sea horses are pieced together with many different parts and abilities of other animals. They have the head of a horse with the snout of an aardvark, spines like a puffer fish, a pouch of a kangaroo, eyes like a lizards, the tail of a monkey, an armor plated body like Stegosaurus, the ability to change colors like a chameleon and to wrap their tails around things.

Each one of the special features plays an important role in the life of a sea horse. The seahorse has the eyes of a lizard which mean one eye looks left while the other eye looks right. Both eyes do not look ahead like our eyes do. This unique ability allows the seahorse to look for enemies with one eye while searching for food with the other eye. It is also believed that with this binocular vision seahorses have, they can see their microscopic prey.

The tube-shaped snout lent to the sea horse by the aardvark is its mouth. It is made of an upper and lower jaw, both of which are toothless! The seahorse opens and closes its jaw in a rapid snapping movement while lowering the floor of its mouth to increase volume. The snout is designed to suck up microscopic animals that live in the water. These animals include small crustaceans, brine shrimp, plankton, worms and other invertebrates. Seahorses usually ambush these microscopic animals as they swim past.

The bony plate of armor that Stegosaurus loaned the seahorse covers its entire body. This suit of armor consists of many bony plates that interlock throughout the seahorses body that are arranged into "rings". Each species has a distinct number of rings but that number varies between different members of the Hippocampus family. The joints where the armor interlocks are marked by the spines of the puffer fish. These two features provide the seahorse with protection from predators but also limits their flexibility.

The prehensile monkeys tail also provides a very important function in the every day life of a sea horse. Anybody who has every been in the ocean knows that there is a strong undercurrent or under toe that can be very overwhelming. So they are not swept away by this current, sea horses wrap their tales around coral, sea grass or any other convienent object on the ocean floor.

Because sea horses wear such heavy armor, they are very poor swimmers. They spend most of the day resting by anchoring themselves with their tail. They have no caudal or tail fin like all other fishes do. When they do swim, they majestically glide through the water without any visible effort. This is because they have a transparent fin on their back, called a dorsal fin, that beats 20-30 times per second, so fast we can't see it! The dorsal fin moves the seahorse forward. The pectoral fin controls which way the seahorse is going to turn. When they do swim, it is in an up and down fashion. They regulate whether then swim up or down by controlling the volume of gas in their bodies (like a shark!).

The sea horse relies on its ability to camouflage itself for protection against predators like large fish, birds, crabs and sea turtles. With its camouflaging ability, it can change colors in the blink of an eye.

Did you know that the male sea horse carries the young and that when a male and female sea horse mate, it's for life?! Seahorses mate during the full moon. They normally go through a series of courtship rituals that lasts several days before they mate. The courtship ritual involves such things as color changes and synchronised swimming. The female makes between 200 - 600 eggs which are a pinkish color. The size of the eggs varies from .5 to 1.5 millimeters, depending on the species. The female then deposits them in the males brood pouch where he fertilizes them and lets them grow. The developing embryos are oxygenated and maintained for 3 - 6 weeks. When the male gives birth, he may actually experience birth pain. When they hatch, the baby sea ponies are about 1 centimeter long. When the baby seahorses are born, they must fend for themselves because the male will not care for them. They will live for about 4 years.

The trade of seahorses is legal. But if we are not careful, then we could push this amazing creature into extinction. The Chinese, Indonesians and Central Filipinos use sea horses in their medicines as cures for illnesses, as aphrodisiacs and as food. Medicinal purposes for seahorses include using them as "cures" for asthma, arteriosclerosis, incontinence and impotence, thyroid disorders, skin ailments, broken bones and heart disease. Some areas even use seahorses as an aid in childbirth. The price of dried seahorses can fetch up to US $550 a pound! The use of sea horses in aquariums, especially in North America, is also steadily growing but many populations are now coming from seahorse farms. Their inshore habitats are also being destroyed which in turn destroys them. Water pollution is also aiding in the destruction of these wonderous creatures.

LINKS TO SEAHORSE SITES:

Fish To The Nth helping hobbyists and breeders with questions and problems

Seahorse.org the definitive source on seahorse husbandry

Project Seahorse researching the sea horse

Vincent Labs breeding, conservation and management of seahorses

Seahorse Park information about sea horses

The Aquatic Bookstore

Questions? Comments? Know of any more seahorse sites? me!

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Copyright © 1998-2004 by Shannon Davis

Some information from A Step-By-Step Book About Seahorses by Peter Giwojna and The Aquatic Bookstore and Fish To The Nth Thanks!!

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