The sea horse's unusual-looking body is formed by 50 or so bony plates that encircle the body to create rings of armor. Within their narrow snouts are tubes through which they feed, sucking in plankton and tiny fish larvae. The male sea horse has a pouch in his belly, into which a female lays 100 or more eggs at a time. The male fertilizes the eggs in the pouch and carries them until they hatch, ten days to six weeks later, depending on the sea horse species. Sea horses are found mostly in shallow tropical and subtropical waters, although there are some ocean-dwelling sea horse species.
All sea horses use their pelvic and pectoral fins for steering.
They swim slowly, in an upright position, and take frequent breaks. During these breaks they wrap their prehensile tails around a piece of seaweed or coral to anchor themselves. In addition to providing a resting place, the seaweed and coral provide good camouflage for the sea horse. The largest sea horse species is the Pacific sea horse, measuring approximately 12 inches long. The smallest is the dwarf sea horse, which measures only an inch and a half long.