Seahorse
Seahorse
Hippocampus
UncommonSyngnathidaeHarmless
ID points
- Head set at almost a right angle to the body; floats upright
- Curled tail wrapped around seagrass or coral branches
- No tail fin; moves by rapidly fluttering its dorsal fin
Basics
- Family
- Syngnathidae
- Length
- 5–20 cm
- Depth
- 0-25 m
- Regions
- Temperate & polar
- Distribution
- Seagrass beds and coral reefs in tropical to temperate shallow water
- Habitat
- Shallow seagrass beds and coral reefs
- Diet
- Small crustaceans
Easily confused with
Pygmy SeahorseUnder 2 cm long, smaller than a fingernail
Big-belly SeahorseBelly especially swollen, one of the largest of all seahorses
Leafy SeadragonLeaf-shaped skin flaps all over the body, looking like seaweedFun fact
Seahorses are the only vertebrates in which the male carries the pregnancy and gives birth. The male has a brood pouch that can hold anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred young. They move by beating the dorsal fin at high speed, up to about 35 beats a second in pygmy seahorses, which still leaves them among the slowest swimmers in the sea.