Seahorses
As one of the most intriguing of the sea’s creatures, seahorses are a highlight of any dive. Their expressive eyes, curled tails and quickly beating fins will delight divers who are lucky enough to spot them (you will need good eyesight).
Colored from black, to brown, to yellow and even orange and pink, seahorses are designed not to be seen, and are often indistinguishable from the coral, seaweed and sea grass in which it thrives.
Today seahorses are threatened with habitat destruction,their popularity in
Chinese medicine as an aphrodesiac, their use as aquarium pets, and even their dried bodies as souvenirs. These practices are killing seahorses in their tens of thousands each year.
See the seahorse in the Philippines or in South Africa with ZeroBar.org. Please see Padre Burgos (Southern Leyte) and Malapascua Island.
Species: about 35 known species exist
Body Size: between 1 centimeter (1/4 of an inch) to more than 30 centimeters (1 foot)
Worldwide Range: Seahorses are found in most of the world's temperate and tropical coastal waters
Diet: Seahorses love dining on brine shrimp; which they often consume in the thousands. They have no teeth and therefore swallow their food
Coronet: is just as unique as a human fingerprint;
Eyes: each eye can move independently of the other
Dorsal Fins: moves forward
Pectoral Fins: turning and steering controls swimming
Reproduction: Seahorses are famous in the animal kingdom for their reversal of the traditional young-rearing rules, with the male taking on the responsibility instead of the female. The male becomes pregnant when a female deposits her eggs into his pouch; each pregnancy lasts about two to three weeks (varies with species and water temperature); once the male gives birth, he usually becomes pregnant again and repeats the process all over again.
seahorse photos by Kelly O'Connell
Pygmy Seahorses
Only recently discovered, the Pygmy Seahorse has become the newest holy grail for underwater photographers and serious divers alike: living on just one kind of gorgonian, the genus Miricella, up to 28 pairs of the creatures have been observed on one plant.
The Pygmy seahorse has adapted so well to their host, that the skin is almost indistinguishable from the polyps. The Pygmy Seahorse inhabits the coral reefs of the Western Pacific, and Australia.
Encounters:
You practically need a magnifying glass to see these creatures, with full grown adult Pygmy Seahorses reaching just 2 cm in length, (less than an inch), making it the world's smallest seahorse.
Scientific Name:
Hippocampus bargibanti
Diet:
zooplankton
Facts:
species was only discovered when a host gorgonian was harvested and transferred to an aquarium;
two color types have been observed in this species: one, a purple or gray, with red or pink appendages; and the other, is yellow with orange appendages;
while the body matches the gorgonian stem, the mouth and appendages match the gorgonians polyps;
like common seahorses, Pygmy Sea Horses also help in raising the young;
prefers water depths of 15 to 40 meters;
lives in warm tropical waters 3 degrees north to 23 degrees south;
Research and Conservation Agencies:
The Pygmy Seahorse is listed under the Red List of the UICN Conservation List of Threatened Species
Seahorse Conservation Program http://www.angleseyseazoo.co.uk/seahorse.htm
Project Seahorse http://seahorse.fisheries.ubc.ca/new.html