Seahorse

**Seahorses** are a type of teleost fish. They are in the genus ***Hippocampus.*** They are called 'seahorses' because their head looks like a horse's head. There are about 32–48 species of seahorse. Seahorses live in tropical oceans. 

Seahorses use camouflage to hide.

Both animals then sink back into the seagrass and she swims away. The eggs then hatch  

Throughout gestation, which in most species requires two to four weeks, his mate visits him daily for 'morning greetings'. They interact for about 6 minutes. The female then swims away until the next morning, and the male vacuums up food through his snout.

### Birth 
The number of young released by the male seahorse averages 100-200 for most species, but may be as low as 5 for the smaller species, or as high as 1,500. 

When the fry are ready to be born, the male expels them with muscular contractions. He gives birth at night and is ready for the next batch of eggs by morning when his mate returns. 

Like almost all other fish species, seahorses do not take care of their young after birth. Infants are susceptible to predators or ocean currents which wash them away from feeding grounds or into temperatures too extreme for their  bodies. Fewer than 0.5% of infants survive to adulthood. This is why litters are so large. These survival rates are actually fairly high compared to other fish, because of their protected gestation. This makes the process worth the cost to the father. The eggs of most other fish are abandoned immediately after fertilization.

Seahorses are the only fish that experience true male pregnancy. 

## Species 
There are 46 species in this genus:

* *Hippocampus abdominalis* Lesson, 1827 (big-belly seahorse)
* *Hippocampus algiricus* Kaup, 1856 (West African seahorse)
* *Hippocampus angustus* Günther, 1870 (narrow-bellied seahorse)
* *Hippocampus barbouri* Jordan & Richardson, 1908 (Barbour's seahorse)
* *Hippocampus bargibanti* Whitley, 1970 (pygmy seahorse)
* *Hippocampus breviceps* Peters, 1869 (short-headed seahorse)
* *Hippocampus camelopardalis* Bianconi, 1854 (giraffe seahorse)
* *Hippocampus capensis* Boulenger, 1900 (Knysna seahorse)
* *Hippocampus casscsio* Zhang, Qin, Wang & Lin, 2016 (Beibu Bay seahorse)
* *Hippocampus colemani* Kuiter, 2003 (Coleman's pygmy seahorse)
* *Hippocampus comes* Cantor, 1850 (tiger-tail seahorse)
* *Hippocampus coronatus* Temminck & Schlegel, 1850 (crowned seahorse)
* *Hippocampus curvicuspis* Fricke, 2004 (New Caledonian seahorse)
* *Hippocampus dahli* J. D. Ogilby, 1908 (lowcrown seahorse)
* *Hippocampus debelius* Gomon & Kuiter, 2009 (softcoral seahorse)
* *Hippocampus denise* Lourie & Randall, 2003 (Denise's pygmy seahorse)
* *Hippocampus erectus* Perry, 1810 (lined seahorse)
* *Hippocampus fisheri* Jordan & Evermann, 1903 (Fisher's seahorse)
* *Hippocampus guttulatus* Cuvier, 1829 (long-snouted seahorse)
* *Hippocampus haema* Han, Kim, Kai & Senou, 2017 (Korean seahorse)
* *Hippocampus hippocampus* (Linnaeus, 1758) (short-snouted seahorse)
* *Hippocampus histrix* Kaup, 1856 (spiny seahorse)
* *Hippocampus ingens* Girard, 1858 (Pacific seahorse)
* *Hippocampus japapigu* Short, R. Smith, Motomura, Harasti & H. Hamilton, 2018 (Japanese pygmy seahorse)
* *Hippocampus jayakari* Boulenger, 1900 (Jayakar's seahorse)
* *Hippocampus jugumus* Kuiter, 2001 (collared seahorse)
* *Hippocampus kelloggi* Jordan & Snyder, 1901 (great seahorse)
* *Hippocampus kuda* Bleeker, 1852 (spotted seahorse)
* *Hippocampus minotaur* Gomon, 1997 (bullneck seahorse)
* *Hippocampus mohnikei* Bleeker, 1854 (Japanese seahorse)
* *Hippocampus nalu* Short, Claassens, R. Smith, De Brauwer, H. Hamilton, Stat & Harasti, 2020 (South African pygmy seahorse or Sodwana pygmy seahorse)
* *Hippocampus paradoxus* Foster & Gomon, 2010 (paradoxical seahorse)
* *Hippocampus patagonicus* Piacentino & Luzzatto, 2004 (Patagonian seahorse)
* *Hippocampus planifrons* Peters, 1877 (flatface seahorse, false-eye seahorse)
* *Hippocampus pontohi* Lourie & Kuiter, 2008 (Pontoh's pygmy seahorse)
* *Hippocampus pusillus* Fricke, 2004 (pygmy thorny seahorse)
* *Hippocampus reidi* Ginsburg, 1933 (longsnout seahorse)
* *Hippocampus satomiae* Lourie & Kuiter, 2008 (Satomi's pygmy seahorse)
* *Hippocampus sindonis* Jordan & Snyder, 1901 (Sindo's seahorse)
* *Hippocampus spinosissimus* Weber, 1913 (hedgehog seahorse)
* *Hippocampus subelongatus* Castelnau, 1873 (West Australian seahorse)
* *Hippocampus trimaculatus* Leach, 1814 (longnose seahorse)
* *Hippocampus tyro* Randall & Lourie, 2009 (Tyro seahorse)
* *Hippocampus waleananus* Gomon & Kuiter, 2009 (Walea soft coral pygmy seahorse)
* *Hippocampus whitei* Bleeker, 1855 (White's seahorse)
* *Hippocampus zebra* Whitley, 1964 (zebra seahorse)
* *Hippocampus zosterae* Jordan & Gilbert, 1882 (dwarf seahorse)

## Phases of courtship 
Seahorses exhibit four phases of courtship.

### Phase one 
This initial courtship takes place about 30 minutes after dawn on each courtship day. In this phase, the males and females will remain apart during the night, but after dawn they will come together in a side-by-side position, brighten, and engage in courtship.

### Phase two 
This phase begins with the female beginning her pointing posture, by leaning her body towards the male, who will lean away and quiver. It can last up to 54 minutes.

### Phase three 
The third phase begins with the females brightening and assuming the pointing position. It lasts for 9 minutes.

### Phase four 
The final phase includes 5–8 bouts of courtship. Each bout begins with both the male and female anchored to the same plant about 3 cm apart; usually they are facing each other and are still bright from the previous phase.

## Related pages 
* Syngnathiformes
* Cornetfish

## References