All About Seahorses

The horses of the ocean, the seahorse gets its name from its facial similarity to the horse, with a long snout. There are over 50 different types of seahorses, yet the seahorse is still an endangered species. They are captured in the hundreds and used in Chinese, Japanese and Korean medicine.

The Seahorse is classified as a hippocampus. Hippos is Greek for horse, and kampos means sea monster. In ancient Greek mythology it was told that the sea Gods rode around on creatures that were half horse half fish. The imagery associated with them is that of the modern day seahorse.

The Seahorse, however, is much too small to ride. Measuring anywhere from an inch centimeter to 12 inches. They are a vertebrae fish, with a hard outer covering, fins, and gills. The Seahorse looking unlike most fish was first mistaken to be an amphibian or even an insect. The seahorse eats mostly shrimp, plankton, and worms. The seahorse has no teeth so it cannot must eat soft invertebrate. The seahorse itself is covered in interlocking bones that act as an armor.

Unlike most species, the male seahorse is responsible for carrying and nourishing the eggs for reproduction. The mating process of the seahorse is a prolonged process of courtship in which the seahorse couple will spend days mimicking each other’s movements and following one another. On a full moon, the female will release her eggs of which the male will pick up and store in a pouch on his chest to fertilize and nourish.... Read More