Seahorses are a genus of fish belonging to the family Syngnathidae, which also includes pipefish and leafy sea dragons. The seahorses are found in tropical and subtropical coastal and reef waters all over Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.
Seahorses range in size from 16 mm (the recently discovered Hippocampus denise[2]) to 35 cm. Seahorses and pipefishes are notable for being the only species in which males become "pregnant".[3]
The seahorse has a dorsal fin located on the lower body and pectoral fins located on the head near their gills. Some species of seahorse are partly transparent and are rarely seen in pictures.
Sea dragons are close relatives of seahorses but have bigger bodies and leaf-like appendages which enable them to hide among floating seaweed or kelp beds. Seahorses and sea dragons feed on larval fishes and amphipods, such as small shrimp-like crustaceans called mysids ("sea lice"), sucking up their prey with their small mouths. Many of these amphipods feed on red algae that thrives in the shade of the kelp forests where the sea dragons live.
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Seahorses range in size from 16 mm (the recently discovered Hippocampus denise[2]) to 35 cm. Seahorses and pipefishes are notable for being the only species in which males become "pregnant".[3]
The seahorse has a dorsal fin located on the lower body and pectoral fins located on the head near their gills. Some species of seahorse are partly transparent and are rarely seen in pictures.
Sea dragons are close relatives of seahorses but have bigger bodies and leaf-like appendages which enable them to hide among floating seaweed or kelp beds. Seahorses and sea dragons feed on larval fishes and amphipods, such as small shrimp-like crustaceans called mysids ("sea lice"), sucking up their prey with their small mouths. Many of these amphipods feed on red algae that thrives in the shade of the kelp forests where the sea dragons live.