Seahorses are truly unique, and not just because of their unusual equine shape. Unlike most other fish, they are monogamous and mate for life. Rarer still, they are among the only animal species on Earth in which the male bears the unborn young.

one to four years

Octopuses are semelparous animals, which means they reproduce once and then they die. After a female octopus lays a clutch of eggs, she quits eating and wastes away; by the time the eggs hatch, she dies.

Do not chase, disturb or touch seahorses. Seahorses are a protected species and it is an offence to disturb them. It is an exciting experience to see one but it is best for you and the seahorse to keep your distance and calmly observe. If the seahorse swims away, do not pursue it.

Male pregnancy frees to female to make more eggs straight away and so reproduce quicker. Seahorses engage in an eight hour courtship dance which includes spinning around, swimming side by side and changing colours.

fry

But in seahorses, the sperm-producers are also the ones that get pregnant. The female transfers her eggs to the male’s abdominal pouch, made of modified skin. The male releases sperm to fertilise the eggs as they enter, before incubating them for 24 days until they are born.

In asexual reproduction, an individual can reproduce without involvement with another individual of that species. Sexual reproduction in seahorses: Female seahorses produce eggs for reproduction that are then fertilized by the male. Unlike almost all other animals, the male seahorse then gestates the young until birth.

With their slow, gentle demeanors and curlicue tails, seahorses might seem like the most harmless, unassuming creatures under the sea. But they’re actually one of the most deadly.

Deadly strike Seahorses dine by a method known as pivot feeding. They found that the seahorse’s snout is shaped to minimise the disturbance of water in front of its mouth before it strikes. Above and in front of its nostrils is a “no wake zone” and it angles its head precisely to attack its prey.

Once the seahorse is extremely close to the prey, it is able to jerk its head extremely quickly and consume the tiny copepod. This approach works an astounding 90% of the time, making the seahorse one of the deadliest predators in the ocean.”

Hippocampus abdominalis

Yes! They belong to the class Actinopterygii (bony fish), which includes salmon and swordfish, and the family Syngnathidae (fused-jawed fish), which includes pipefish and seadragons. All seahorses belong to the genus Hippocampus, a combination of the Greek words for “horse” and “sea monster”.

The world’s smallest species of sea horse is Satomi’s pygmy sea horse Hippocampus satomiae, which as an adult has an average length of only 13.8 mm (smaller than an average human fingernail), and a height of approximately 11.5 mm.

The big-belly seahorse is found among algae, seagrasses, and rocky reefs in shallow water, and attached to sponges and colonial hydroids in deeper areas. They also attach to jetty piles and other manmade objects, and can be found in estuaries.

about 3-6 years

Data deficient (Data inadequate to determine a threat category)

Mysis Shrimp

Trade bans forced the industry underground, but it’s still massive. “Now we’re talking about illegal wildlife trade,” Foster said. Desiccated seahorses have a long shelf life and are easy to hide in suitcases. They’re shipped illegally, so they don’t have permits, making the black market much harder to track.

dwarf seahorse

At the other extreme, the electrogenic elephantnose fish, an African freshwater fish, has one of the largest brain-to-body weight ratios of all known vertebrates (slightly higher than humans) and the highest brain-to-body oxygen consumption ratio of all known vertebrates (three times that for humans).

sailfish