20 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Seahorse | Amazing Facts 4U
- There are about 40 known species of seahorses.
- Seahorses are masters of disguise. They swim upright and avoid predators by mimicking the color of underwater plants.
- Seahorses can range from 0.6 inches to 14 inches in height.
- A baby seahorse is called a fry while a group of seahorses is called a herd.
- Seahorses prefer to swim in pairs with their tails linked together.
- Except for crabs, few marine predators eat the seahorse as it is too bony and indigestible.
- Seahorses propel themselves by using a small fin on their back that flutters up to 35 times per second. Even smaller pectoral fins located near the back of the head are used for steering.
- Because of their body shape, seahorses are terrible swimmers and can easily die of exhaustion when caught in storms in seas.
- They anchor themselves with their prehensile tails to seagrasses and corals, using their elongated snouts to suck in plankton and small crustaceans that drift by. The seahorse can suck up food from as far as 3cm away.
- The seahorse feeds constantly on plankton and tiny fish. It moves each of its eyes independently, so it can follow the activity of passing sea life without giving its presence away.
- Seahorses have no teeth and no stomach. Food passes through their digestive systems so quickly, they must eat almost constantly to stay alive.
- They are the master assassins of the sea. Seahorse heads are shaped to let them move through the water undetected. Their predatory kill rate is an amazing 90%.
- They can consume 3,000 or more brine shrimp per day.
- Seahorses are monogamous and mate for life.
- The amazing fact is that they are among the only animal species on Earth in which the male bears the unborn young.
- Male pregnancy frees females to make more eggs straight away and so reproduce quicker.
- Seahorse courtship begins with a daily “dance,” during which the male and female gracefully swim together spinning around, swimming side by side and changing colors. This courtship happens every morning for several days. The final dance can last up to eight hours until the couple finally does the deed.
- When mating, the female seahorse releases up to 50 eggs into a pouch on the male’s abdomen.
- The male seahorse carries the eggs in his pouch until they hatch, then releases fully formed, miniature seahorses into the water. As little as 5 or as many as 1,500 young can be born.
- Unfortunately less than one in a thousand young Seahorse will survive long enough to become an adult.
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