Animal Corner

Discover the many amazing animals that live on our planet.

  • Home
  • A-Z Animals
  • Anatomy
  • Glossary
  • Animal Lists
    • Animal By Letter
    • Animals by Location
    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
  • Free Resources
    • Animal Coloring Pages
    • Animal Jokes
    • Animal Quizzes
  • Pets
    • Dog Breeds
    • Rabbit Breeds
    • Cat Breeds
    • Pet Rodents
    • Animal Care
  • Blog
You are here: Home / Animals / Seahorse

Seahorse

Image Source

Seahorse Characteristics

Seahorse

The Seahorse belongs to the same family as pipe fishes and sea dragons. There are 35 different species of seahorse which can be found in warm shallow waters all over the world. The head of the seahorse resembles a horses head and its body has an elongated tail covered by about 50 rectangular bony plates. ‘Hippocampus’ is the scientific name for the seahorse and it means ‘bent horse’ in Greek.

Seahorses range in size from 16 millimetres (the recently discovered Hippocampus denise) to 35 centimetres. Seahorses are notable for being the only species where the male seahorses become pregnant.

The seahorse is a true fish, with a dorsal fin located on the lower body and pectoral fins located on the head near their gills. Some species of seahorse are partly transparent, and are often not spotted in aquariums despite being there and are also not often seen in pictures.

The seahorses long tube-like snout acts like a vacuum cleaner for food, sucking up tiny shrimp and crustaceans. It is able to hang on to sea grass by wrapping its tail around the stems. This helps it to avoid being swept away by strong currents.

Like chameleons, seahorses can change color so they match their surroundings in the sea grass. This camouflage protects them from predators such as crabs although, with their bony armour, there are very few animals that can eat them anyway.

Seahorse Conservation Status

The seahorse is one of the most amazing and unique creatures of marine fauna. Unfortunately, most seahorses are listed as ‘Vulnerable’ due to a population decline of at least 20% in 10 years or 3 generations projected or suspected in the future based on a decline in area of occupancy, extent of occurrence and/or quality of habitat and actual or potential levels of exploitation declines and habitat destruction.

Hippocampus capensis (Knysna seahorse) is the only seahorse listed as Endangered, due to its small area of occurrence (found in only five estuaries in South Africa) and extensive damage to its habitat.

More Fascinating Animals to Learn About

  • Galapagos Marine Iguana
  • Marine Angelfish
  • Teira Batfish
  • Big Eyed Squirrel Fish
  • manatee
    Manatee
  • Galapagos Gecko
    Galapagos Gecko

About Joanne Spencer

I've always been passionate about animals which led me to a career in training and behaviour. As an animal professional I'm committed to improving relationships between people and animals to bring them more happiness.

Animal Classification

Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Actinopterygii
Order:Syngnathiformes
Family:Syngnathidae
Subfamily:Hippocampinae
Genus:Hippocampus
Type species:Hippocampus heptagonus

Search

Most Popular Animals

  • Zebras
  • Aquatic Warbler
  • Atlantic Dolphins
  • Trapdoor Spider
  • Giraffe
  • Meerkats
  • Timber Wolf
  • Praying Mantis
  • Huntsman Spider
  • Vampire Bat

Galapagos Islands

galapagos-islands

Animal Names Glossary

Animal Names

British Wildlife

british-wildlife

Mammals

anatomy

Dog Breeds

dog breeds

Farm Animals

Farm Animals

Best of the Blog

  • 21 Amazing Animals that live in Lakes
  • What are the Fastest Animals in the World?
  • 31 Animals with Weird and Funny Sounding Names
  • Top 15 Deadliest Animals in the World
  • Ophiophagy – Examples of animals that eat snakes
  • List of Fascinating Solitary Animals

Copyright © 2005-2022 · Animal Corner · All Rights Reserved · Affiliate Disclaimer · Privacy Policy · Animals Sitemap . About Us

AnimalCorner.org is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.