Both a fascinating and delicate aquatic animal, the seahorse makes its home in the tempered and tropical costal waters around the world. Though named a “horse”, the seahorse’s physical appearance actually resembles a combination of several land animals. It has the head of a horse, eyes of a chameleon, snout of an aardvark, and tail of a monkey.
There are about 35 known species of seahorses ranging in sizes from one-quarter of an inch to over a foot in length. Unlike other fish, the seahorse swims upright, not vertical, making it among the slowest swimmers in the aquatic world. Because of its miniature size and turtle speed, the seahorse relies heavily on each of its unique land-like animal features and functions to survive in the vast oceans.
The eyes of the seahorse look and function like the eyes of a chameleon. Each eye moves independent of the other and allows the animal to be in constant “look out” mode for predators in all directions. Also like the chameleon, when danger lurks, the seahorse is capable of camouflaging itself. This makes them transparent to predators on the hunt. Therefore, the eyes of the seahorse are a good warning system to hostility in the area.
The snout of a seahorse also plays an important role. Its snout is similar to the snout of an aardvark and just as essential as the aardvark’s. A Seahorse has no teeth and no stomach, so it must continuously eat or it will starve. Like a vacuum, the seahorse sucks up food that is deposited directly into the intestine. Using its snout, a seahorse can eat thousands of brine shrimp in a day to satisfy its constant need for food.
A seahorse is still a fish, and like other fish, it has a dorsal fin to control forward movement and pectoral fins to control turning and steering. But, unlike other fish, the seahorse has a tail resembling a monkey’s tail. A seahorse is not capable of swimming against a current. This problem combined with its small size, light weight, and unique structure make it vulnerable to ocean currents which can be as strong as gale force winds capable of carrying the delicate creature into unfamiliar and dangerous territory. To defend against this, it uses its tail to grip coral and seaweed beds to get anchored against a current.
The seahorse has long been an intriguing creature of the sea. With its unique land animal characteristics, seems life in the ocean would be against the odds for the seahorse. However, it does belong to the salty waters of the earth. And it’s because of its specially designed eyes to warn it of danger, long narrow snouts sucking up endless supplies of food, and gripping tail to anchor itself that the seahorse can continue calling the ocean “Home Sweet Home.”
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