Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development

The Life of a Sea Horse

Rakshitha Kotha^* Department of Biochemistry, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
^*Correspondence: Rakshitha Kotha, Department of Biochemistry, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India, Tel: +32-466-90-05-61, Email:

Received: 08-Nov-2021 Published: 29-Nov-2021

Perspective

Sea horse
Seahorses are small fish that get their name from the shape of their heads, which resembles that of a miniature horse. Around 36 different species of seahorse can be found in tropical and temperate coastal waters, swimming erect among seaweed and other plants.
From their head to their curled, flexible tail, seahorses' bodies are covered in small, spiky plates. When these amazing critters seek to tie themselves to vegetation, the tail can grasp items, which come in useful. Seahorses use their dorsal fin to propel themselves forward through the water (back fin). They alter the volume of air in a tiny pocket inside their body called a 'swim bladder' to move up and down.
These amazing fish are masters of camouflage and can be quite difficult to spot. Camouflage not only aids the seahorse in avoiding predators like crabs and other fish, but it also aids it in becoming a predator. Seahorses are highly skilled ambush predators that feed on small crustaceans. Rather than chasing their prey, they wait for them to pass by unseen. They then suck their unwitting prey through their tube-like mouth before eating it completely.
The life cycle of a seahorse is one of the most fascinating things that nature has to offer! In a pouch on the male seahorse's abdomen, a female seahorse lays dozens, if not hundreds, of eggs. It's called a 'brood pouch,' and it's similar to a kangaroo's pouch for carrying offspring. The eggs can stay in the brood pouch for up to 45 days, depending on the seahorse species, until they are ready to hatch. The young new-born seahorses, each about the size of a candy, join together and float in tiny groups, clinging to each other with their tails. Baby seahorses, unlike kangaroos, do not return to the pouch. These animals have it rough, as they must hunt for food while still hide from predators as soon as they born.
Habits of eating
To ambush small food like copepods, seahorses rely on stealth. To catch the copepod, they perform pivot feeding, which entails turning their nose at a rapid speed and then sucking in the copepod. Seahorses feed with ease thanks to their long snouts. They must eat continually to stay alive because they are slow to process their food and have incredibly rudimentary digestive systems that lack a stomach. Because seahorses are poor swimmers, they must cling to seaweed, coral, or anything else that will keep them afloat.
The fossil record and evolution
Seahorses are highly modified pipefish, according to anatomical data corroborated by molecular, physical, and genetic evidence. Seahorses, on the other hand, have a very limited fossil record. The emergence of seahorses from pipefish could have been a result of changes in prey capture biomechanics. The seahorse's peculiar position permits them to capture little shrimps from greater distances than the pipefish.
Reproduction
A brood pouch is located on the ventral, or front-facing, side of the male seahorse's tail. When a female seahorse mates, she can lay up to 1,500 eggs in the male's pouch. The male carries the eggs for 9 to 45 days, until the seahorses emerge fully grown but still extremely little. During the breeding season, the young are released into the water, and the male often mates again within hours or days.
Birth
For most species, the number of young discharged by the male seahorse ranges from 100 to 1000, but it can be as low as 5 for lesser species or as high as 2,500 for larger species. The male expels the fry with muscle contractions when they are ready to be birthed. When his mate returns in the morning, he usually gives birth at night and is ready for the next batch of eggs. Seahorses, like almost all other fish species, do not care for their young once they are born.