25 Interesting Facts about Seahorses

Seahorses are some of the most interesting and amazing animals on the planet. They are both beautiful and mysterious, and have often shown up in popular media around the world. Learning about seahorses can be both fun and rewarding experience, as there are hundreds of interesting facts about them. Here are 25 of our favorite facts about these beautiful creatures.

1. Many times, seahorses will actually travel in pairs. They use their strong tales to link to each other so they will always stay together. Isn't that adorable?

2. Seahorses like to eat, a lot. In fact, seahorses can eat more than 2500 shrimp in the day. Now obviously the shrimp are small, such as brine shrimp, but nonetheless, that's extremely impressive!

3. There are more than 45 different known species of seahorses. That's a lot of variety! One of the beautiful things about seahorses that there are so many different kinds of them.

4. Male seahorses are the ones that carry the young. The female seahorse will deposit her eggs in a pouch on the male seahorse, where they are then fertilized and developed.

5. Seahorses typically mate for life when they're in the wild. This means that they are monogamous, making them a very unique and rare occurrence in the animal kingdom.

6. When the male seahorse gives birth, he can give birth from as little as just a few seahorses, to as much as over 1000 at a time. Can you imagine more than 1000 itty-bitty seahorses? That's got to be a cute site!

7. When baby seahorses are born, they come out fully formed and in the shape of a regular seahorse. However they are much smaller than size.

8. Seahorses have to eat constantly. They have no stomach, and no teeth. Because of this, they are in constant need to eat so that the digestive system can process nutrients

9. Seahorses are actually very poor swimmers. The unique shape makes it hard for them to move around in the water.

10. Seahorses use their unique tail to latch onto things in the ocean. This allows them to not be pushed around from the currents and conserve precious energy.

11. There many seahorses that enjoy resting. In fact, a seahorse can rest in the same location, provided that there is food, for up to two days. Can you imagine staying the same spot for two days?

12. The long snout of a seahorse is the way it is so that they can easily get food. When a seahorses latched on to another object in the ocean, they use their long snouts so that they can reach the food that is around.

13. Seahorses, many different colors. This is one of the things that make seahorses so beautiful. No to seahorses are exactly identical, and when put together their colors make for a beautiful aquarium display.

14. Seahorses can change colors. Seahorses adapt to their surroundings by switching the colors of their bodies. This allows them to camouflage from predators.

15. Seahorses can eat a variety of different things. They mostly enjoy eating shrimp, but they can also eat plankton and other sea tiny animals.

16. Seahorses have very unique eyes. Their eyes can move independent from each other, which means that they can look both forward and backward at the same time.

17. Seahorses use their eyes to hunt for food. Unlike many animals that will use the taste of the water or smell to hunt their prey, seahorses use their very unique eyes to find the food around them.

18. The seahorse's snouts act kind of like a vacuum cleaner. Since they are long, they are able to probe different areas of the ocean and suck up food, kind of like a straw.

19. Seahorses have elaborate courtship rituals. They do a special dance to reinforce their relationship.

20. When baby seahorses are born, they are totally on their own. Since they are fairly unable to swim well, they drift towards the surface of the ocean until they are able to move.

21. Seahorses have exoskeletons. This means that the outside of their body is made out of bony plates that protect the fleshy inside.

22. Ancient Chinese medicine calls for using seahorses and many of the different medications. This actually poses a threat to the seahorses, as they are being over farmed.

23. Seahorses like to live in shallow waters, where the sun will warm them. This is another way that they can conserve energy.

24. Seahorses have a territory of about 1.5 square meters. However, they are not aggressive and a lot of times their territories will overlap.

25. Did you know that you can own a pet seahorse? Though seahorses are very delicate and are prone to disease, with the proper care and instructions is possible to own a pet seahorseCheck out our website for more information on owning a pet seahorse.