Hippocampus’ Amazing Life!
Seahorses through the watercourses by Tiffany
People say they have had a great glimpse at the seahorses, but do they know how the seahorses have managed to roam and adapt in the deep blue? Have they ever wondered how the environment is affecting the seahorses’ life? Not many people understand or know the factual things about the seahorses. Let’s take a closer look at how these amazing creatures have managed to adapt to their unpleasant environment.
Seahorses are a type of fish and its scientific name is hippocampus. They live in shallow tropical, temperate waters in sheltered areas where there are lots of seagrass beds, estuaries, coral reefs or mangroves, and they breathe through their gills. However, they do not have caudal fins and have a tail that looks like a snake tail and have an unusual equine shape. These sea creatures are unique, not just because of their unusual equine shape, but are dissimilar to other types of fish. They are monogamous and mate for life. Seahorses are also dissimilar because they prefer to swim in pairs with their tails linked together and swim fluttering with their fins on their back. Seahorses sometimes can curl on coral reefs or plants to hold on tight.
Hippocampuses are omnivores. Hippocampuses feed on plankton, small fish and crustaceans, such as shrimp and code pods. Amazingly, the seahorses don’t have teeth, but they can still suck their food in by anchoring themselves with their prehensile tails to the plankton and using their elongated snouts to suck in small fish and crustaceans nearby.
Surprisingly, seahorses are one of the animals that can only be reproduced by male species. Male seahorses are equipped with a pouch at the ventral or front siding of the tail. When mating, the female seahorses deposit approximately 1 500 eggs to the male’s pouch. The male seahorses carry their eggs for 9 to 45 days until the babies are fully developed.
Unfortunately, the lovely tiny seahorses are prey for many predators in the shallow water, especially crabs. They try to escape from their predators by swimming upright and avoid predators by mimicking the altering colours of the underwater plants and environment on their bodies. These types of camouflage are able to help them to hide in plain sight. However, these preventive measures simply aren’t enough to protect them from the predators nearby. The young seahorses are more likely to become the prey of predators than adult seahorses. In fact, there is less than a 1 percent survival rate of the various species. Even though, there are 1500 young ones that can emerge at once, most of them will become a source of food.
There seems to be less seahorses around the world due to water pollution. Pollution in the water affects the life of seahorses in the deep blue. The water is affected by people releasing carbon dioxide into the environment and into the atmosphere which leads to global warming and effects the natural environment in the water. Sadly, this is not all. Seahorses are also used for traditional medicines. Every year, more than 25 million seahorses are taken from the sea for Traditional Chinese Medicines. This unacceptable practice is killing lots of seahorses.
Mr Richardson's Comment: Great work, Tiffany! Your information report about these amazing creatures is very thorough and interesting. You've displayed excellent research and writing skills. Well done!
Seahorses are a type of fish and its scientific name is hippocampus. They live in shallow tropical, temperate waters in sheltered areas where there are lots of seagrass beds, estuaries, coral reefs or mangroves, and they breathe through their gills. However, they do not have caudal fins and have a tail that looks like a snake tail and have an unusual equine shape. These sea creatures are unique, not just because of their unusual equine shape, but are dissimilar to other types of fish. They are monogamous and mate for life. Seahorses are also dissimilar because they prefer to swim in pairs with their tails linked together and swim fluttering with their fins on their back. Seahorses sometimes can curl on coral reefs or plants to hold on tight.
Hippocampuses are omnivores. Hippocampuses feed on plankton, small fish and crustaceans, such as shrimp and code pods. Amazingly, the seahorses don’t have teeth, but they can still suck their food in by anchoring themselves with their prehensile tails to the plankton and using their elongated snouts to suck in small fish and crustaceans nearby.
Surprisingly, seahorses are one of the animals that can only be reproduced by male species. Male seahorses are equipped with a pouch at the ventral or front siding of the tail. When mating, the female seahorses deposit approximately 1 500 eggs to the male’s pouch. The male seahorses carry their eggs for 9 to 45 days until the babies are fully developed.
Unfortunately, the lovely tiny seahorses are prey for many predators in the shallow water, especially crabs. They try to escape from their predators by swimming upright and avoid predators by mimicking the altering colours of the underwater plants and environment on their bodies. These types of camouflage are able to help them to hide in plain sight. However, these preventive measures simply aren’t enough to protect them from the predators nearby. The young seahorses are more likely to become the prey of predators than adult seahorses. In fact, there is less than a 1 percent survival rate of the various species. Even though, there are 1500 young ones that can emerge at once, most of them will become a source of food.
There seems to be less seahorses around the world due to water pollution. Pollution in the water affects the life of seahorses in the deep blue. The water is affected by people releasing carbon dioxide into the environment and into the atmosphere which leads to global warming and effects the natural environment in the water. Sadly, this is not all. Seahorses are also used for traditional medicines. Every year, more than 25 million seahorses are taken from the sea for Traditional Chinese Medicines. This unacceptable practice is killing lots of seahorses.
Mr Richardson's Comment: Great work, Tiffany! Your information report about these amazing creatures is very thorough and interesting. You've displayed excellent research and writing skills. Well done!