Did You Know?

• -Seahorses gained international protection on May 15, 2004
• -What do South American Spider Monkeys, Ringtail Opossums and seahorses have in common? They all have prehensile tails.
• -Seahorses are members of the Teleost suborder, or bony fish.
• -Seahorses usually live in the tropics or along temperate coasts.
• -The average height of a full-grown sea horse is 2-8 inches.
• Seahorses also vary in color, including orange, red, yellows, grey, and greens.
• -Seahorses can come in patterns like “zebra stripes” and spots.
• -Seahorses change color to blend in with their surroundings.
• -Seahorses feed on small living animals such as daphnia, Cyclops, larvae of water insects, or mysids.
• -Seahorses like to swim in pairs linked by their tales.
• -Seahorses cannot curl their tails backwards.
• -Seahorses belong to the vertebra group, meaning they have an interior skeleton.
• -The small dorsal fins propel it through the water in an upright position, while it beats them back and forth, almost as fast as a humming bird flapping its wings.
• -Seahorses usually mate under a full moon.
• -The pectoral fins control turning and steering. When resting, the seahorse curls its tail around seaweed, to keep it from floating away...
• -Seahorse natural predators are crabs, tuna, skates and rays.
• -Seahorses are loyal and mate for life.
• -During mating, the Seahorses utter musical sounds.
• -The female deposits eggs into the male’s small pouch, and then leaves. Out of the entire animal kingdom, these are the only animals in which the male has babies!
• -Twenty-five million seahorses a year are now being traded around the world - 64 percent more than in the mid-1990s - and environmentalists are increasingly concerned that the booming trade in seahorses is putting the creatures at risk.
• The Knysna seahorse - a curious, legendary African fish - Jackie Lockyear
• Seahorses are thought to have evolved at least 40 million years ago and have survived from ancient times with only very small changes in body structure or organ function. They are unusual fish that have captured the imagination of artists, writers and poets, being found in the mythology, legends, folklore and superstitions of almost every country in the world. In fact some people still believe that these endearing creatures exist only in fables and children's stories. The fact is however, that these creatures are just as real as the threats that they face in our world today.
• Given their unusual appearance and extraordinary biology, it is not surprising that Asians have credited seahorses with magical powers. Seahorse are therefore exploited as traditional medicines. This use has led to concerns that the natural seahorse stocks are being depleted at a rapid and unsustainable rate