Seahorses: what they look like, what they eat, and how they reproduce. Seahorses Fish seahorse

Many unusual and interesting creatures live in the depths of the sea, among which seahorses deserve special attention.

Seahorses, or scientifically called hypocampus, are small bony fish of the pipefish family. Today there are about 30 species, which differ in size and appearance. “Height” ranges from 2 to 30 centimeters, and the colors come in a wide variety.

Skates do not have scales, but they are protected by a hard bony shell. Only a land crab can bite through and digest such “clothes,” so underwater predators usually don’t find skates interesting, and they hide in such a way that any needle in a haystack would be jealous.

Another interesting feature of skates is their eyes: like a chameleon, they can move independently of each other.

Like a fish in water? No, it's not about them

Unlike other inhabitants of the sea, pipits swim in a vertical position, this is possible due to the presence of a large longitudinal swim bladder. By the way, they are very inept swimmers. The dorsal fin is small and makes fairly fast movements, but this does not give much speed, and the pectoral fins serve mainly as rudders. Most of the time, the seahorse hangs motionless in the water, catching its tail on algae.

Every day is stressful

Seahorses live in tropical and subtropical seas and prefer clear, calm water. The greatest danger for them is strong rolling, which can sometimes lead to complete exhaustion. Seahorses are generally very susceptible to stress. They get along poorly in an unfamiliar environment, even if there is enough food; in addition, the cause of death can be the loss of a partner.

There's no such thing as too much food

The seahorse has a primitive digestive system, no teeth or stomach, so in order not to starve, the creature has to constantly eat. By their feeding method, skates are predators. When it’s time for a snack (almost always), they cling to the algae with their tails and, like vacuum cleaners, suck in the surrounding water, which contains plankton.

Unusual family

Family relationships among skates are also very peculiar. The female always chooses the other half. When she sees a suitable candidate, she invites him to dance. Several times the pair rises to the surface and falls again. The main task of the male is to be hardy and keep up with his girlfriend. If he slows down, the capricious lady will immediately find another gentleman, but if the test is passed, the couple begins to mate.

Seahorses are monogamous, meaning they choose a partner for life and even sometimes swim with their tails tied together. The offspring is carried by the male, and by the way, these are the only creatures on the planet that experience “male pregnancy.”

The mating dance can last about 8 hours. In the process, the female places the eggs in a special pouch on the male’s belly. This is where miniature seahorses will form over the next 50 days.

From 5 to 1500 cubs will be born, only 1 in 100 will survive to sexual maturity. It seems small, but this figure is actually one of the highest among fish.

Why are seahorses becoming extinct?

Seahorses are small, peace-loving fish that have suffered greatly due to their bright and unusual appearance. People catch them for various purposes: for making gifts, souvenirs, or for preparing expensive exotic dishes that cost about $800 per serving. In Asia, medicines are made from dried seahorses. 30 species out of 32 existing ones are listed in the Red Book.

The seahorse is a small fish, which is a representative of the Spine family from the order Stickleback. Research has shown that the seahorse is a highly modified pipefish. Today the seahorse is a rather rare creature. In this article you will find a description and photo of a seahorse and learn a lot of new and interesting things about this extraordinary creature.

The seahorse looks very unusual and its body shape resembles a chess piece of a horse. The seahorse fish has many long bony spines and various leathery projections on its body. Thanks to this body structure, the seahorse appears unnoticed among the algae and remains inaccessible to predators. The seahorse looks amazing, it has small fins, its eyes rotate independently of each other, and its tail is curled into a spiral. The seahorse looks diverse, because it can change the color of its scales.

The seahorse looks small, its size depends on the species and varies from 4 to 25 cm. In the water, the seahorse swims vertically, unlike other fish. This is due to the fact that the seahorse’s swim bladder consists of an abdominal and a head part. The head bladder is larger than the abdominal one, which allows the seahorse to maintain an upright position when swimming.

Now the seahorse is becoming increasingly rare and is on the verge of extinction due to a rapid decline in numbers. There are many reasons for the disappearance of the seahorse. The main one is the destruction by humans of both the fish itself and its habitats. Off the coast of Australia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, pipits are being caught en masse. The exotic appearance and bizarre body shape are the reason why people began to make gift souvenirs from them. For beauty, the tail is artificially arched and the body is given the shape of the letter “S”, but in nature skates do not look like that.

Another reason that contributes to the decline in the seahorse population is that they are a delicacy. Gourmets highly value the taste of these fish, especially the eyes and liver of seahorses. In a restaurant, the cost of one serving of such a dish costs $800.

In total, there are about 50 species of seahorses, 30 of which are already listed in the Red Book. Luckily, seahorses are very fertile and can produce over a thousand young at a time, keeping the seahorses from going extinct. Seahorses are bred in captivity, but this fish is very demanding to keep. One of the most extravagant seahorses is the rag-picker seahorse, which you can see in the photo below.

The seahorse lives in tropical and subtropical seas. The seahorse fish lives mainly at shallow depths or near the shore and leads a sedentary lifestyle. The seahorse lives in dense thickets of algae and other marine vegetation. It attaches itself to plant stems or corals with its flexible tail, remaining almost invisible due to its body covered with various projections and spines.

The seahorse fish changes body color to completely blend in with its environment. In this way, the seahorse successfully camouflages itself not only from predators, but also while foraging for food. The seahorse is very bony, so few people want to eat it. The main hunter of the seahorse is the large land crab. The seahorse can travel long distances. To do this, it attaches its tail to the fins of various fish and hangs on them until the “free taxi” swims into the algae thickets.

What do seahorses eat?

Seahorses eat crustaceans and shrimp. Seahorses eat very interestingly. The tubular stigma, like a pipette, draws prey into the mouth along with water. Seahorses eat quite a lot and hunt almost the whole day, taking short breaks of a couple of hours.

Seahorses eat about 3 thousand planktonic crustaceans per day. But seahorses eat almost any food, as long as it does not exceed the size of their mouth. The seahorse fish is a hunter. With its flexible tail, the seahorse clings to the algae and remains motionless until the prey is in the required proximity to the head. After which the seahorse absorbs water along with food.

How do seahorses reproduce?

Seahorses reproduce in a rather unusual way, because their young are carried by the male. Seahorses often have monogamous pairs. The mating season of seahorses is an amazing sight. A couple who are about to enter into a marriage union are held together by their tails and dance in the water. During the dance, the skates press against each other, after which the male opens a special pocket in the abdominal area, into which the female throws eggs. Subsequently, the male bears offspring for a month.

Seahorses reproduce quite often and produce large offspring. A seahorse gives birth to one thousand or more young at a time. The fry are born an absolute copy of the adults, only very tiny. The babies that are born are left to their own devices. In nature, a seahorse lives for about 4-5 years.

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Not crucian carp, not perch,
Has a long neck
Who is he? Guess it quickly!
Well, of course, it’s a hobby!

The seahorse (from the Latin Hippocampus) is a small, cute sea fish of an unusual shape from the genus of bony fish (the pipefish family) of the needle-shaped order. Looking at this fish, one immediately remembers the chess piece of a knight. The long neck is a distinctive feature of the skate. If you disassemble the skate into body parts, then its head resembles that of a horse, its tail resembles that of a monkey, its eyes resemble those of a chameleon, and its outer coverings resemble those of insects. The unusual structure of the tail allows the skate to cling to seaweed and corals and hide in them if it senses danger. The ability to mimic (camouflage) makes the seahorse practically invulnerable. The seahorse feeds on plankton. Young skates are quite voracious and can eat for 10 hours in a row, eating up to three thousand crustaceans and shrimp. The vertical position of the seahorse relative to the water is its distinctive feature.

It is interesting that the seahorse is a caring father and faithful husband. The difficult burden of motherhood falls on the shoulders of the male. The seahorse independently carries the baby in a special bag, which is located in the lower part of the seahorse's abdomen. It is there that the female introduces eggs during mating games. If the female dies, the male remains faithful to his partner for a long time and vice versa, if the male dies, the female remains faithful to the male for up to 4 weeks.

Dimensions

The size of a seahorse varies from two to three centimeters to 30. Thirty centimeters is the size of a giant seahorse. The average size is 10 or 12 centimeters. The smallest representatives, dwarf seahorses, are about 13 or even 3 millimeters. With a size of 13 centimeters, the mass of a seahorse is about 10 grams.

A few more photos of seahorses.

The reproduction of seahorses that live in tropical seas and those inhabiting temperate latitudes differs slightly.

In tropical species, it is quite common to see males greeting females at first light, swimming around their darlings and probably confirming their readiness to reproduce. It is noticed that the male’s chest area turns dark; he bows his head and thus makes circles around the female, touching the bottom with his tail. The female does not move from her place, but rotates around her axis following the male. Male temperate seahorses, on the other hand, inflate their pouch, causing the taut skin to become almost white.

During the breeding season, this greeting ritual is repeated every morning, after which the pair proceeds to “breakfast”, remaining in a relatively limited area. At the same time, partners try not to let each other out of sight. As the moment of mating approaches, the greeting ritual continues throughout the day.

It is very important that the fish mature at the same time. On the day when mating occurs, the ritual becomes more frequent. At some point, the female suddenly raises her head and begins to swim upward, and the male follows her. At this stage, the female's ovipositor becomes visible and the male's pouch opens. The female inserts the ovipositor into the opening of the pouch and lays eggs within a few seconds.

If one of the partners is not ready, then spawning is interrupted and everything starts again. The number of eggs depends, as a rule, on the size of the male (it can be a small, young male, or an adult specimen) and on the type of fish. Some species produce from 30 to 60 eggs per spawning, others - about 500 or more. Synchronization is important

For mating, it is very important that the reproductive products of both partners mature at the same time. In long-established pairs, mating occurs without a hitch at any time of the day, while in newly formed pairs, one of the partners must wait for the other and remain in “full readiness” for several days.

The moment of hatching of the fry is also extremely important for many fish. Seahorses navigate the high and low tides when the current is strongest and can guarantee widespread distribution of offspring. The tides are regulated by the lunar cycle and are particularly intense during the full moon. Therefore, it is not surprising that seahorses reproduce most actively during certain phases of the moon.

The species I was observing showed reproductive activity during the full moon, and the birth of the fry - four weeks after spawning - again occurred on the full moon, and a few days later the males were ready to accept a new clutch. During the breeding season, spawning was repeated every four weeks.

The fry hatched in their father's pouch and immediately left it. A lot of fry appear at the same time, which forces the male from time to time to bend his body forward in order to push them out. Seahorse fry are left to their own devices, since after hatching their parents stop caring for them.

In some species, the fry lead a pelagic lifestyle and drift with the current, while in others they remain in one place. In close relatives of the pipefish, the reproduction process is essentially the same, but seahorses are the only members of their family that completely hide their eggs in their skin. The rest use folds of skin that cover the caviar or attach it to special depressions in the body.

The reason for such care of seahorses for their offspring may be that in the thickets of grass where fish live, a large number of invertebrates live, for which eggs serve as food.

In free-swimming pipefish and dragonfish, such contact rarely occurs, so there is no need for additional protection of the offspring. Evolution of role reversal But how did the role reversal occur, as a result of which males of species of the family Syngnathidae began to bear eggs?

This, of course, can only be guessed at, but if you take a closer look at fish of related families with a normal reproduction process, a definite conclusion arises about how everything could have been.

Like many fish, the ancestors of synnatids probably spawned like this: the male and female moved upward synchronously and simultaneously released eggs and milt. After fertilization, the eggs were carried by the current, or they settled and stuck, for example, to the stems of sea grass. If such “sticky” eggs developed successfully and the fry from them survived, then it can be assumed that in subsequent generations the stickiness only increased. And then, probably, individual eggs were glued to the male's abdomen, which gave them the best chance of survival and protection from predators.

If everything was so, then in the process of evolution fish improved such “care for offspring.”

Seahorses became the first fish in marine aquariums in Japan and Europe. Many species are not only successfully kept in captivity, but also reproduce, but this requires a lot of effort and time. There is not a single line in scientific publications about keeping and breeding skates in aquariums, but reports about this appear in aquarium magazines, which, however, are not widely distributed.

Personally, I wrote an article about aquarium breeding of sea dragons from caviar, that is, about fish that are considered unsuitable for an aquarium. After it appeared in a recognized magazine, these fish and their breeding methods very quickly became objects of interest, especially for public aquariums.

Live food

Many aquarists breed seahorses, and many public aquariums breed these fish. This mainly occurs in Europe, Japan and Singapore.

Interestingly, many people breed the Australian species H. abdominalis, a fairly large skate that easily adapts to captivity conditions.

I have been able to propagate H. whitei from Sydney and H. abdominalis and H. breviceps from Melbourne. In principle, everything is not so difficult. All that is needed is good sea water, an aquarium, decorations that imitate a natural biotope, and a regular supply of high-quality food for the fish.

The latter can be a problem, especially if the hobbyist does not have good and sufficiently nutritious frozen food. I had a similar situation, so every second day I had to go to the sea and dive to catch food for my skates.

But with so much effort, breeding these fish was not difficult.

I started in 1980 by breeding H. breviceps and H. abdominalis, with the goal of photographing the birth of the fry. However, as it soon became clear, this task was not at all easy. I still could not get to the right moment and usually discovered the hatched fry in the morning hours. It took several months before I managed to catch the moment of “birth”, which proceeds very quickly.

"One-Eyed Bandit"

In 1992, I decided to take tropical seahorse species more seriously. I caught four male and three female H. whitei in Sydney Harbour. One of the males was one-eyed, and another was “pregnant.”

I planted them in an aquarium with an area of ​​one square meter and a height of 50 cm. The water temperature was just over 20°C - an absolutely normal indicator for this species. Of all the animals, only two formed a pair and, seven days after the birth of the fry, began mating; the remaining “non-pregnant” males began to court all the females in a row.

The one-eyed male did not lag behind the others and increasingly won the attention of one of the females bearing eggs, but in the subsequent “dance ritual”, describing circles around his chosen one, he suddenly lost sight of her.

As far as I can tell, he didn't have a successful mating. The males also tried to expel their friend, thereby getting rid of competitors. They bit their rivals, which was accompanied by a clicking sound. Such behavior prevented the pipits, who had not yet mated, from “tuning in” to each other: once, for example, eggs fell past the male’s pouch.

Often males with dark chests chased females, but there was no noticeable reaction from the latter. Once a one-eyed male began to “besiege” a very large female with a large amount of eggs, which, however, did not reciprocate his feelings and found herself another male. True, he showed no interest in her.

The following year, partners often changed each other, and the males continued to see each other only as rivals. For example, one who had just given birth to fry began to besiege another “pregnant” male, who initially hid behind “his” female, but was later driven out by a burst of furious clicking.

1000 fry per season

At intervals of four weeks, my skates gave birth to fry, which I raised in a community aquarium. They grew very quickly, but for this I had to regularly catch food in the ocean that the fry could swallow.

The number of fry was so large that I could not leave them all in the aquarium, therefore, after growing up the fry, I released them into the ocean, approximately from 50 to 200 individuals per month. At birth, the length of the fry reached 12 mm, and within two weeks they doubled in size.

A year later, the health of my “savages” deteriorated and they stopped spawning. On average, each pair produced 80 fry per month, that is, more than 1000 during the year. Interestingly, the reproductive activity of pairs increased, as in nature, during the full moon. Soon the few fry that I had left for myself began to reproduce.

"Eternal love"?

My intensive studies in breeding seahorses were prompted not only by my own desire to observe the mating and birth of fish, but also by numerous requests from other aquarists who were interested in these processes.

I could not find an explanation for much of what I saw. For example, during a strong storm, all the skates gathered at the top of the stem of sea grass, forming something like a vine. And the matings themselves were fraught with a few surprises.

For example, my seahorses turned out to be not as monogamous as described in the literature!

While photographing a species of H. breviceps one day, I noticed how one of the females intervened at the moment of mating and transferred her eggs to the male’s already open pouch. Another time, the male accepted eggs from two females at once.

And although these observations were made in an aquarium, I am sure that similar things happen in nature. It seems to me that the assumption of monogamy in seahorses has no basis. Observations in natural conditions last a short time and do not give even a hint of how animals will behave in a year.

Mating requires synchronized maturation, and in this sense, pipits are no different from other reef fish, so I can imagine that during the height of the breeding season it is very difficult to find a new partner.

In such conditions, it is quite advisable for partners to remain together throughout the entire breeding season.

However, for most, if not all, species, caring for offspring is a “seasonal job”, and this season depends on changes in climate in the relevant geographical area.

In the tropics, pipits begin spawning immediately after the rainy period, and in subtropical zones in the spring, when there should be enough food in the water for the young. After the breeding season, the animals seem to go their separate ways and go (or better yet, swim) their own way. Some species migrate to other zones, often to depths. Sometimes at this time I came across reefs on which there were only males or only females, so it seems to me that in nature, seahorses form their pairs only at the beginning of the breeding season.

rare resident of the aquarium Quite often, aquarists are in search of amazing and unusual residents for their aquariums. Thus, many people prefer fish with bright colors, unusual behavior or amazing body shapes. But, probably, everyone will agree that the real pearl of any ecosystem will be the unique seahorses, which will be discussed in this article.

Description

The horse has always had a mythical aura. And this is not at all surprising, given its amazing curved body shape combined with a horse-shaped head. And you can watch for hours how he proudly moves through the aquatic environment.

Today you can buy a huge number of different types of seahorses. But here it should be noted that the requirements for their care can vary significantly. As a rule, the sizes of the most popular types can vary from 120 to 200 mm. Such results can be achieved by representatives of H.barbouri, Hippocampus erectus and H.reidi.

If we talk about the color scheme of their colors, then it should be noted that they are scarce. So, the predominant shade among the others is yellow. An interesting fact is that the brightness of color can change noticeably depending on mood, environmental conditions and even stress.

In terms of development, the pipit is somewhat lower than other bony fish. Also, although they do not require much special attention in care, you should know a few simple nuances for their comfortable maintenance. And first of all, this concerns their special distinctive features. Which manifest themselves in:

1. Limited gas exchange. This occurs due to the ineffective functioning of the gills. That is why the water in the container should not only be under a regular supply of oxygen, but also filtered. It is important to maintain a high flow, since the amount of oxygen is directly proportional to the amount of oxygen contained in it, which is vital for the normal functioning of the skate.
2. Lack of stomach. In this way, the seahorse can maintain high energy levels. But don’t forget about his enhanced nutrition.
3. Lack of scales. This allows you to ignore most infections, both bacterial and viral. But to ensure that this advantage does not turn into a disadvantage, it is necessary to regularly carry out preventive examinations of the surface of the skin so that seahorses continue to delight with their appearance.
4. The original oral apparatus, represented by an elongated muzzle with a proboscis, the main task of which is to absorb food at enormous speed. It's worth noting that food may vary in size. There have been cases when a small seahorse destroyed a soft shrimp, the size of which was 1 cm.

What you need to know about the content

Having decided to purchase such an unusual resident for your aquarium, the first thing you need to do is prepare a new container for them. Seahorses introduced into a used aquarium may encounter too many restrictive factors to tolerate.

And it is recommended to start with the size of the container. It should be remembered that the seahorse, due to its physiological characteristics, prefers large vertical space, which they can use to their full potential. That is why special attention should be paid to the height of the aquarium. And the best option will be when it is at least 450 m.

In addition, it is worth emphasizing that too bright lighting can also cause significant discomfort for them.

As for the temperature regime, the seahorse shows its slight selectivity, preferring colder temperatures. And if other fish still feel comfortable at 26 degrees, then seahorses prefer 23-24. To achieve this temperature regime, it will be enough to use a standard fan installed above the aquarium.

Breeding in captivity

Just a few years ago, there was a strong opinion that seahorses would not reproduce in captivity. That is why they were introduced into the aquarium solely for decorative purposes. But it soon became clear that, like other fish, the seahorse also cannot reproduce outside its natural environment. As for the high mortality rate earlier, it turned out that seahorses died from improper care and maintenance.

In addition, if we make a comparison, it turns out that seahorses born in captivity are significantly superior to their “wild” relatives in several characteristics. So, first of all, the “domestic” seahorse is several times more resilient, has greater strength and can eat frozen food.

And most importantly, given their rapidly declining population in the wild, domesticated seahorses are not exacerbating this trend.

Neighborhood with other inhabitants of the aquarium

As a rule, the seahorse gets along well with the rest of the inhabitants of the home ecosystem. And what kind of fish can harm him, given the swiftness of these creatures. As for other invertebrates, they are not only ideal as neighbors, but also do an excellent job of cleaning containers from traces of food.

The only concern is the corals, the wrong choice of which can cause the death of seahorses. That is why you should opt for corals that do not sting and do not require bright lighting.

A very important point in introducing seahorses to potential neighbors, even if they are just fish, is to provide him with some free time for “personal acquaintance” with the new territory.