Seahorses

Ali Bland & Taylor Marshal

Habitat

The Seahorse has a wide range of species and can be found in many different locations all over the Americas, as well as the world. In light of their strange body shape, a horse shaped nose, and small fins, the seahorse is not a very strong swimmer. Swimming requires a large amount of energy expenditure on their part. For this reason, seahorses can be found living in coral reefs, seagrass beds, along mangroves. These are most abundant in warm shallow waters off the coast. This is beneficial to the seahorses anchoring mechanism. Using there long tails, seahorses use these areas for there abundance of anchoring locations, that prevent them from being washed out to sea during winter storms. Seahorses are also very aggressive when it comes to their territory. Males can have a stomping ground of up to 11 square feet, however the females can claim up to 1,100 square feet at a time. How much a seahorse can survive, will depend on how much space it will inhabit. In recent years, habitats have grown smaller and smaller. For example, the seahorses we observed in Cozumel, Mexico were alone. An adult on a lone coral structure and a juvenile resting in the sea
grass beds. Interestingly, the adult was found in deeper waters than are common for their habitat. 

Reproduction

Seahorses have very unique reproductive techniques. Unlike humans, and many other organisms, it is not the female that carries the babies during pregnancy, the male does. When the reproductive process begins, the couple will start by demonstrating predawn dances by tangling their tails and swimming together. This is only the mere beginning, for the true courtship dance can be known to last up to eight hours. It is thought to be a way to synchronize each others movements, so that the male will be positioned when the female is ready to deposit her eggs. Male seahorses have a pouch that is constructed to fertilize and hold their young for 10 to 25 days (depending on the species) while they develop. It is possible for a male to carry up to 2,000 eggs at a time. Although it is unusual, many say that it is an interesting site to see the male give birth. 

Diet

The seahorses main diet includes small crustacea and plankton. To consume their food they suck it through their snout, causing them to only eat small bits of prey. They have long slender snouts that they can probe into small spaces and find food. They can not chew their prey, but they can expand their snout a little if their prey is bigger than the snout. Because of the size of their prey they need to consume a large quantity of organisms each day to sustain themselves. Baby seahorses eat about 3,000 pieces of food each day, while adults eat about 30-50 times a day. Sea horses to not usually actively seek out their prey, they are more opportunistic hunters. Since they typically hold on to something sturdy with their tails and blend in using camouflage, they catch what ever passes by them. But occasionally they will actively search for food. They have very good eyesight so they can spot their prey when it passes or they search for it. Their eyes can move independently from each other like chameleons. This is very helpful while they are looking for food. 

Conservation

Seahorses are in high demand for humans, causing their population to plummet as they are harvested. They are used in traditional Chinese medicine. It is a valid type of healthcare and about one fourth of the world uses it for medical reasons. They use about 150 million seahorses each year for medical use. Sadly it is believed that seahorses will spur a child's growth rate so children take pills made out of seahorses. Because seahorses also contain a lot of collagen they are used as sort of a Botox substitute for women. Seahorses are also wanted for jewelry and trinkets sold at souvenir shops. Researchers are still unsure how many species of seahorses there are. But the British seahorse Survey has been researching their populations since 1994 and adding it to the National Seahorse Database. In 2008 they were placed under the Wildlife and Countryside act of 1981in Britain. In 2010 a law was passed that prohibited flash photography in welfare grounds because it is very harmful for seahorses and can kill them. Project Seahorses was founded in 1996 and has done a lot to protect seahorses. Some ways they help conservation is pay fishers in Asia to not fish them, work with officials in China to push for sustainability, provide research/management options to help the seahorse populations recover, etc. Seahorses are still being overfished, but there are efforts by many organizations to prevent extinction. 

Resources

http://animals.mom.me/foods-sea-horse-eat-3333.html

http://www.projectseahorse.org/about-our-approach

http://www.theseahorsetrust.org/research.aspx

http://www.theseahorsetrust.org/seahorse-facts.aspx

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/06/0614_seahorse_recov.html

http://animals.mom.me/natural-habitat-seahorse-4228.html

http://www.seahorseworlds.com/seahorse-habitat/

Photos:

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/wallpaper/animals/photos/animal-fathers-gallery/seahorse/
http://www.lovethesepics.com/2013/04/60-spectacular-seahorses-and-seadragons-pics/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dD3JYcItHY
http://www.realmonstrosities.com/2013/05/seahorse.html