Seahorses are fish from genus Hippocampus. They live on seaweed beds and coral reefs, and some have a very restricted habitat. The common pygmy seahorse lives on only one coral species. Seahorses are closely related to pipefish.
The largest seahorse caught reached a daunting size (for a seahorse) of 4 and a half inches. Sea horses have a hard shell around their bodies, so it is energy-burning to curl their tail around something.
Seahorses are endangered because too much trash and pollution is thrown into their habitats. Also, as corals die because of the global warming, more of their habitats are destroyed. For example, this is happening in the coral reef habitat of the critically endangered Walea pygmy seahorse (blog coming soon).
In this post, I wanted to tell you about the Coleman’s pygmy seahorse. It is the third-smallest seahorse in the world, the length of a small pin.
Body markings & habitat
The depth where the Coleman’s pygmy seahorse lives should be 21 meters or less. If they go to a deeper spot, their hard exoskeletons will start to crack when they reach 25 meters depth. The seahorses use body color and coral-like shape to match dead coral color. No two Coleman’s pygmy seahorse body patterns are exactly the same.
Anatomy
On the outside, they try to imitate coral shape. They have a head bump, neck bump, and near-tail bump. They also have coral-like projections on the back, head, and other parts of their bodies, and their bellies have ridges. They have a small snout.
On the inside, their throat leads to anus. They have no stomach, like all seahorses. Their food dissolves in the throat.
Special skills
They have a have a long, unbendable neck which helps them catch their favorite food: near-microscopic shrimp. They have excellent camouflage, which works finely on dead or dying corals.
Instincts
They like to migrate to a new coral fan every year because they don’t like when too much algae grows on their homes. They knows when to suck in its prey when it is casually passing by without noticing them.
Search predator radius
Can spot its main predator (fish) from 31 feet away, and swims away in time to a new coral so that the predator does not spot it.
Reproduction
Babies (called “fries”) are born from a hole in the males belly. Then they make a large group (herd).
Thank you! What a wonderful introduction to seahorses! I learned so much.