Hippocampus, commonly known as Sea Horse, is the designation of any of the 50 small marine fish. The word “hippocampus” is derived from the Greek words “horse” and “sea monster.” Sea Horses have a horse-like head and neck, segmented skeletal armor, an erect stance, and a curled, prehensile tail.
One of the most unusual and alluring marine animal species in existence, Sea Horses are found in both tropical and temperate regions all over the world. There’s much more to Sea Horses’ breathtaking allure than just their distinctive protruding faces and curling tails, from weird eating behaviors to exquisite courting rituals.
Featured Image Credit: divemecressi
Appearance
Sea Horses come in a variety of sizes and can grow to be 14 inches long. Sea Horses have broad-snouted heads, curved necks, and unique trunks and tails, giving them a horse-like look and earning them the moniker. Despite being bony fish, they lack scales and instead have a thin layer of skin stretched over a number of bone plates that are distributed throughout their body in rings.
Credit: Vale in-nature
Sea Horses are protected from predators by the armor of bone plates, and because of this external skeleton, they no longer have ribs. Sea Horses use their dorsal fins to drive themselves forward as they swim upright. They have good camouflage abilities, and, depending on their environment, they can develop or shed spiky appendages.
Diet
Sea Horses are carnivorous fish. Sea Horses can easily chew their food thanks to their long snouts. Yet, because they take a long time to finish their meals and have very basic digestive processes without stomachs, they must continually feed in order to survive. Smaller crustaceans that are swimming or burrowing on the bottom are what seahorses hunt.
Sea Horses ambush anything that floats within striking distance using their superior camouflage, waiting patiently for the right opportunity. Mysid shrimp and other little crustaceans are top choices. The three unique feeding phases in Sea Horses are anticipatory, expansion, and recuperation. When in the expanded phase, the Sea Horse catches its prey by lifting its head, opening its oral cavity, and sucking it in before returning to its normal position.
Habitat
Around the planet, shallow tropical and temperate saltwater is where you’ll mostly find Sea Horses. They are found in protected environments such as coral reefs, mangroves, estuaries, and seagrass beds. Due to their poor swimming abilities, Sea Horses must attach themselves to seaweed, coral, or any other object that will keep them anchored.
Credit: grapatax
The Western Atlantic’s Caribbean area is home to the Long Snout and Northern Sea Horses. The Mediterranean Sea and warm regions of the Atlantic Ocean are home to the common Sea Horse. The Indo-Pacific is home to the yellow Sea Horse. The sole Sea Horse found along the eastern Pacific coast, which stretches from California to Peru, is the Pacific Sea Horse.
Reproduction
Sea Horses engage in courtship for several days before mating. During mating, the female Sea Horse can lay between 1,000 to 2,000 eggs in a brood pouch on the male’s ventral side, facing the front. The pouch serves as an incubator, nurturing the eggs until they hatch, which can take anywhere from 9 to 45 days. Once the young Sea Horses are released into the water, the male may mate again within hours or days during the mating season.
Many species of Sea Horses establish pair bonds that endure at least the mating season, despite the fact that they are not known to be lifelong partners. More monogamous fidelity is demonstrated by certain species than by others. When the chance presents itself, many species of Sea horses will quickly exchange partners.
Threats
The Sea Horse has many predators in its natural habitat because of its tiny size and susceptibility. The Sea Horse is frequently preyed upon by crabs, fish, and rays. Additionally, Sea Horses have been found within the stomachs of predator fish species like bluefin tuna. The Sea Horse is especially susceptible to inclement weather because, during storms, they are frequently tossed onto the shoreline from the surface they were sticking to.
Credit: Seventh Heaven Photography – (Fauna)
Ocean pollution depletes many species’ food sources and habitats, including Sea Horses. Additionally, Sea Horses have been overfished, particularly in Asia, to be used in recipes and as a component of medicine.
Facts about the Sea Horse
- The scientific name for Sea Horses, Hippocampus, is also a brain area in humans.
- Sea Horses get their name from their resemblance to land horses.
- Sea Horses move 60 inches an hour, swimming exceptionally slowly.
- Seahorses are fish with digestive tracts but no stomachs.
- The male species of Sea Horses are the ones that give birth.
FAQs
How long does a Sea Horse live?
Due to a shortage of research, it is uncertain how long wild Sea Horses live. The smallest seahorse species have a lifespan in captivity of around a year, while the largest species have a lifespan of 3 to 5 years.
What happens if a Sea Horses’ mate dies?
Sea horses are supposed to perish as a result of pair bonding. The other sea horse quickly passes away after a partner passes away. The chemistry-induced pair bonding that leads to perpetual monogamy is the theory underlying this phenomenon. In the absence of a partner, the physiology begins to degrade.
What is special about a Sea Horse?
Because of their odd anatomical form and absence of scales, onlookers frequently do not initially think of sea horses as fish, despite the fact that they are in fact fish. These fish are able to live not just because of a thick layer of armor-like plates covering them but also because they have swim bladders that allow them to float in the water and breathe through their gills.
Why do Sea Horse males give birth?
According to a scientific hypothesis, the ability of males in the Sea Horse species to carry the young has developed because it enables the species to produce more offspring more quickly. Improving odds for the survival of all species. The female can make additional eggs while the male is carrying the offspring.
