The sea horse, genus Hippocampus, is among the most unusual in appearance of all fishes. It belongs to the family Syngnathidae and is closely related to the equally odd-looking leafy seadragon, Phycodurus eques, and the pipefish.
The sea horse's upright position, horselike head set at right angles to the body, and jointed armor make the sea horse resemble a knight in a chess set. It swims weakly, propelled largely by the rapid motion of its dorsal fin. The scales have been replaced by rings of about 50 rectangular bony plates, encasing the body in a semirigid skeleton. The eyes swivel independently or converge to achieve binocular vision.
Its food consists primarily of minute, planktonic crustaceans. These are ingested into a small mouth at the end of a long tubelike snout by a rapid intake of water.
One interesting characteristic of the sea horse is the apparent reversal of the sex roles. The male has a kangaroolike pouch on its ventral side in which the eggs are deposited by the female and held until they hatch. The eggs are fertilized as they enter the pouch, hatching after approximately ten days.
There are more than 30 species of sea horses in warm tropical and temperate seas. They live in shallow waters. Sea horses generally range from 5 to 30 cm (2 to 12 in) in size, although at least one species, H. denise, is much more diminutive.
Large numbers of sea horses are harvested either for the pet trade or for use in traditional Chinese medicine. As a result, six species have been labeled as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Regulation of trade in sea horses began in 2004.
The sea horse's upright position, horselike head set at right angles to the body, and jointed armor make the sea horse resemble a knight in a chess set. It swims weakly, propelled largely by the rapid motion of its dorsal fin. The scales have been replaced by rings of about 50 rectangular bony plates, encasing the body in a semirigid skeleton. The eyes swivel independently or converge to achieve binocular vision.
Its food consists primarily of minute, planktonic crustaceans. These are ingested into a small mouth at the end of a long tubelike snout by a rapid intake of water.
One interesting characteristic of the sea horse is the apparent reversal of the sex roles. The male has a kangaroolike pouch on its ventral side in which the eggs are deposited by the female and held until they hatch. The eggs are fertilized as they enter the pouch, hatching after approximately ten days.
There are more than 30 species of sea horses in warm tropical and temperate seas. They live in shallow waters. Sea horses generally range from 5 to 30 cm (2 to 12 in) in size, although at least one species, H. denise, is much more diminutive.
Large numbers of sea horses are harvested either for the pet trade or for use in traditional Chinese medicine. As a result, six species have been labeled as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Regulation of trade in sea horses began in 2004.
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