Beastfile · Marine Life

Seahorse

Hippocampus

The male gets pregnant, and it is a real pregnancy, not just carrying eggs.

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Overview

Seahorses are fish that swim upright, badly, using a small dorsal fin beating dozens of times a second, and grip seagrass with a prehensile tail to avoid being swept away. The famous part is genuine and often undersold. The female deposits eggs into a sealed pouch on the male’s belly, where he fertilizes them and then carries them through a real pregnancy: the pouch supplies oxygen, regulates salinity and provides nutrients, and he goes into labor to give birth. They have no stomach, so food passes through fast and they eat almost constantly.

Origin

Shallow temperate and tropical water worldwide, in seagrass meadows, mangroves, estuaries and coral reef, usually within reach of something to hold on to.

Habitat

Ocean

Notable Traits

•Males carry a true pregnancy in a sealed brood pouch
•Prehensile tail for gripping seagrass and coral
•No stomach, so it must feed nearly continuously
•Eyes move independently of one another
•One of the slowest-swimming fish in the ocean

Conservation

Varies sharply by species, with several listed as Vulnerable or Endangered. The pressures are trawling, habitat loss in seagrass and mangrove, and collection for traditional medicine and the aquarium trade.