Seahorse

The seahorse is a small fish. There are around 30 species of seahorses. They vary in color and size, but not shape. All have a spindly tail that coils into a spiral and a head that resembles a tiny horse.

Seahorses are usually found in temperate or tropical waters. They use their tail to hang in shallow water among coral or sea vegetation.

Seahorses are not great swimmers. They move forward by flapping a fin on their backs up to 35 times per second. To go up or down, the seahorse uses an air pocket in its chest called a swim bladder. By inflating and deflating the air pocket, the seashore can gently drift up or down in the water.

Seahorses are carnivores. They’re constantly eating. A seahorse can eat nearly 3,000 or more brine shrimp per day.

A seahorse can live between one and five years.

Seahorses vary in size from just more than a half-inch (0.6cm) long to more than 14 inches (35.5cm) long depending on the species. The largest seahorse, called the big-bellied seahorse, lives in the waters off Southern Australia and New Zealand.

The scientific name for seahorses is Hippocampus.