Seahorse Facts
As the following seahorse facts will reveal, this horse is in fact a fish. While it can hardly be called a stallion of the sea, it is certainly a popular species.
Seahorse Facts
Seahorses are members of the pipefish family. It is a graceful inhabitant of the warmer seas swimming upright and looking a little like a chess piece. Seahorses are usually found in shallow, warm water among sea grass beds. They situate themselves near fast-running, deep channels supplying them with plankton. It is a microscopic marine life on which they feed. They wrap their long tails around nearby vegetation in order not to avoid being swept away by the current. Their tails are prehensile, this means specially adapted for grasping around the vegetation.
When it comes to sea horse facts, one stands above all. Sea horses are an unusual species – males become pregnant. Mating season is year-round in tropical seas; in cooler waters in spring and summer coinciding with full moon. Females release eggs into a pouch on the males’ abdomen. He fertilizes them and nourishes them with a special fluid secretion when the eggs attach themselves to the spongy pouch wall. Nearly fifty young are released from his pouch after gestation period is over.
A seahorse can use each eye independently from the other. This allows it to search for prey without moving its body. Seahorses feed on plankton and other small fish. The seahorse can snap the prey up from an inch and a half away. Since its coloration acts as camouflage in all surroundings, it can avoid most predators. It can change from gray or black to vivid yellow or purple within seconds.
The seahorse is much smaller than your typical land horse. In general, the seahorse is about an inch long. Seahorses vary in color, including orange, red, yellows, grey, and greens. Seahorses change color to blend in with the surrounding area. They like to swim in pairs linked by their tales.
One of the surprising seahorse facts for most people is that it is a vertebrate species, to wit, it has an interior skeleton. Turning and steering is controlled by the pectoral fins. To keep it from floating away, the seahorse curls its tail around seaweed.
