Hippocampus; Known as Seahorse, this Cute Little Animal dates back 13 million years. How much do you know about it? Part 1.

When I was a kid I was fascinated whenever I saw seahorses. Delicate, cute little creatures looking so peaceful and sweet.

_{Short-snouted seahorse on knotted wrack. The animal was caught on the Oosthinder banks in the Belgian part of the North Sea © Hans Hillewaert - licence (CC BY-SA 4.0)}

Today, I was unsure of which animal I would post about; but suddenly this amazing animal came before me. Mysterious, charismatic, unique. But there is so much more to it. As I started reading about them, these words really caught me, making me to lose my breath a little bit.

According to the IUCN Red List¹, 12 species are Vulnerable, and two are Endangered, but 17 other species are listed as Data Deficient. This means we do not know enough about them to assess their conservation status.
source

Seahorses are very important for the ocean ecosystems

They make their homes in seaweeds and coral reefs, feeding on bottom-dwelling organisms.

I aim to post a series of articles regarding the sea horse species, in order to raise awareness and ultimately to figure out how we can help protect seahorses.

What are seahorses?

Seahorses are fishes, with gills, fins and a swim-bladder. They comprise of the genus (Hippocampus) from the family Sygnathidae.
Hippocampus comes from Ancient Greek hippos (ίππος, hippos) which means ‘horse’ and ‘kampos’ (κάμπος) which means sea monster

In Greek mythology² Poseidon, the Greek God of the sea used to travel in a chariot which was drawn by fierce seahorses. The hippocampus would be depicted as a big animal with the head of a horse and a tail of a fish.

source: Sea Horse by freegreatpicture.com CC0 public comain

How many different species of seahorses are there?

It is unclear how many different species exist and there are disagreements between scientists about the exact number. Many seahorse species are superficially similar in appearance as per the Case Study by the University of British Columbia and the IUCN global authority (dedicated to the conservation of this species) officially recognizes 41 seahorse species³

How do the seahorses look like?

Their heads are positioned at their right angle and they have a grasping tail. They have bony plates attached on their body and some species have bony bumps protruding.

It has been observed that seahorses may change their colour in order to camouflage and blend with their environment.
source

Seahorses appear to be the fusion of various different animals. The have a horse-like head, monkey-like tail, and kangaroo-like pouch. In fact, even their eyes can be likened to those of a chameleon in that they move independently of each other and in all directions

The parts of the horse, extracted from Loh et al 2014 (“Retrieved from The life, history and ecology of seahorses in the Philippines”. Pdf)

Their size varies from the tiny pygmy seahorses (less than 2 centimeters) to the Australian big-bellied seahorse that can be up to more than 30 centimeters.

Where do seahorses live?

Seahorses live in tropical waters, among sea grass beds and coral reefs.

Seahorses range roughly from 50 degrees north to 50 degrees south latitude, with most species occurring in the West Atlantic and the IndoPacific region (see map - blue shading denotes where seahorses are found. Source: Riley Pollom/Project Seahorse). Habitat degradation is a real threat to seahorse populations as they mainly inhabit shallow, coastal areas which are highly influenced by human activities.

Map – Source - iseahorse.org

The evolution of Sea Horses

Sea horse fossils have been found that have been dated back about 13 million years ago.⁴ Found in Slovenia, they represent the oldest known record of seahorse species.

What do the seahorses feed on?

The seahorses have a very inefficient digestive system (thus they have actually no teeth and no stomach). They are constantly eating and they suck whichever comes close enough as they are usually waiting in ambush. They use their long snouts for sucking any small fish or crustaceans will fit their snout.

How do they swim?

The adults have only two tiny fins on their body as well as a dorsal fin and a tiny anal fin. They swim using their pectoral finds for stability and they are now known for their speed, but mostly for their camouflage and maneuvers for escaping when necessary.

What are the major threats for seahorses?

Seahorses are used as Chinese medicines, souvenirs, tonic food and are often traded as aquarium fishes. As informed by the SeaHorse Project, at times aquarium seahorses are wild-caught and they are also used in jewelry (!) key chains etc.
The pollution of the coral reefs, or human activities (such as fishing with the intention to catch shrimps) are another very serious threat for the seahorses.

How much sadness can a single photo show

source - National Geographic

Justin Hofman⁵ was leading an expedition through Borneo when a small group broke off for some impromptu snorkeling near the town of Sumbawa Besar.
Seahorses ride the ocean currents by grasping floating objects with their tails. What began as amusement watching the tiny fish grasping bits of sea grass coming in with the tide turned to anger as plastic and other unnatural debris began to overtake the scene.

This photo meant to be an image of a cute little sea creature but sadly it turned out to be a symbol of ocean pollution and makes us all wander about the future.

“It’s a photo⁶ that I wish didn’t exist but now that it does I want everyone to see it,” he wrote on Instagram. “What started as an opportunity to photograph a cute little sea horse turned into one of frustration and sadness as the incoming tide brought with it countless pieces of trash and sewage. This photo serves as an allegory for the current and future state of our oceans.”

In the next part I will be posting regarding their conservation and reproduction methods.

Thank you very much for visiting and reading!

Some facts about seahorses in YouTube

If you are interesting into taking action for seahorse conservation, visit iSeahorse page to see what you can do to help protect seahorses!

1. Source: “The life, history and ecology of seahorses in the Philippines”. [pdf]
   in support of eventual CITES implementation for seahorses in the Philippines
   Compiled by Charity Mae Apale1,2 and Sarah Foster1
   (1Project Seahorse and 2ZSL-PH)
   (Most text extracted from a review of seahorse biology and ecology by
   Foster & Vincent 2004, with updates)

2. Source: Case Studey by Sarah Foster, Project Seahorse by the University of British Columbia [pdf] Mexico 2008

3. source – the IUCN Seahorse, Pipefish & Stickleback Specialist Group