Introduction


A seahorse is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus Hippocampus. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek hippocampus, itself from hippos meaning "horse" and kampyos meaning "sea monster".


Seahorses range in size from 1.5 to 35.5cm. They are named for their equine appearance, with bent necks and snouted heads and a distinctive trunk and tail. Although they are bony fish, they do not have scales, but rather thin skin stretched over a series of bony plates, which are arranged in rings their bodies. Each species has a distinct number of rings. The armor of bony plates also protects them against predators, and because of this outer skeleton, they no longer have ribs. Seahorses swim upright, propelling themselves using the dorsal fin, another characteristic not shared by their close pipefish relatives, which swim horizontally. Razorfish are the only other fish that swim vertically. The pectoral fins, located on either side of the head behind their eyes, are used for steering. They lack the caudal fin typical of fishes. Their prehensile tail is composed of square-like rings that can be unlocked only in the most extreme conditions. They are adept at camouflage, and can grow and reabsorb spiny appendages depending on their habitat.

Unusually among fish, a seahorse has a flexible, well-defined neck. It also a crown-like spine or horn on its head, termed a "coronet", which is distinct for each species.

Seahorses swim very poorly, rapidly fluttering a dorsal fin and using pectoral fins to steer. The slowest-moving fish in the world is H.Zosterae(the dwarf seahorse),with a top speed of about 1.5m(5ft) per hour. Since they are poor swimmers, they are most likely to be found resting with their prehensile tail wound around a stationary object. They have long snouts, which they use to stuck up food, and their eyes can move independently of each other like those of a chameleon.

Adults of this tiny seahorse species are only one inch tall and have a high, columnar coronet. They can be being, yellow, green or nearly black, with variable mottling ranging from absent to distinct. Some individual have white markings, while some have dark spots. Seahorses use camouflage, changing color and skin filament patterns to blend with their environments, and they may change color rapidly when interacting with one another.

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