What exactly is a seahorse?
Well, it’s a fish! Its horse-shaped head gives it its name. Other features include their monkey-like tail and their color-changing abilities, like chameleons.
What makes seahorses threatened and or endangered?
Their preferred habitats are coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds, and estuaries threatened by development and water pollution.
Threats to the seahorse include:
Legal and illegal trade for ornamental display (sold dried as souvenirs), aquarium fishes and traditional Chinese medicine. It’s estimated that more than 20 million seahorses are traded yearly for Chinese medicine. Hundreds of thousands of seahorses sell for the aquarium trade, driven primarily by North America. Most of these seahorses are juveniles, and they usually die within a short period.
Getting caught in fishing nets, especially those from shrimp boats, which drag their nets.
Habitat degradation and destruction from coastal development, marine pollution, coral reef destruction and land-based deforestation. Deforestation increases siltation in surrounding marine waters, suffocating seagrass beds and killing coral reefs.
Fun facts about seahorses
- They use their long snout to absorb tiny shrimp, fish, and plankton.
- In a seahorse’s life cycle, the male is the one to give birth.
- Males can give birth to up to several hundred young from one pregnancy.
- They are cousins to pipefish and sea dragons.
- They lack teeth, a stomach and a caudal fin.
