Species Information

• Seahorse Genus: Hippocampus
• Order:Gasterosteiformes
• Family:Syngnathidae
• Species count: About 35 worldwide
• Seahorse species size: Varies from 2.5 to 35c
• Relatives of the seahorse: the pipefishes, flute mouths, shrimp fish, and snipe fish
• 12 Species of the genus Hippocampus & Geographical distribution: H. ingens: West coast of (sub)tropical North-,Central-and South America; H. hippocampus: Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Sea from Morrocco through South-east France; H. redi: South America's West coast through Carribean, Mexico, Florida; H. erectus: East coast of North, Central and South America from Argentina through Canada; H. zosterae: Gulf of Mexico and Carribean; H. comes: Far East coast from Taiwan through Indonesia; H. histrix: Indian Ocaen, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Far East through Japan, Australia; H. abdominalis:New Zealand, South and East Australia; H. bargibanti: New Caledonia; H. breviceps: South and East Australia; H. whitei: East Australia; H. fuscus: Tropical coasts of Indian Ocean

General Information

• Main food of the seahorse are shrimp and other Crustaceans
• Seahorses usually do not survive for more than one year in captivity
• Seahorses have a prehensile tail and a dorsal fin adapted for locomotion
• About 20 million live and dead seahorses were traded legally in 1993
• The seahorses are used for medicines and aphrodisiacs in Asia. They are also used for aquariums, curios, and food all around the world

Magical Things About Seahorses

• The Chinese believe that seahorses cure everything from asthma to impotence.
• The ability of the seahorse to change color is even stronger than the Chameleon.They do this for camouflage, reacting to other seahorses, and expressing emotions
• The Hippocampus hippocampus develops skin filaments to camouflage, and looks like sea weed. Hippocampus bargibanti does this to look like coral. Highly variable coloration is also a feature of Hippocampus kuda, a seahorse widespread in Indo-Pacific coastal regions.