Fish

Spiky Seahorse,  Hippocampus guttulatus (=H. ramulosus).

 1)  Seahorses are true fish, like Goldfish. They breathe through their gills.
 2)  Seahorses do not have a tail fin like other fish.
      They use their tail for hanging on to eelgrass and seaweeds.
 3)  Seahorses do not wriggle when they swim, but swim upright, and propel themselves by using
      the dorsal fin on their back.
 4)  Male Seahorses carry the fertilised eggs, put there by the female and are nurtured until they
      hatch into miniature Seahorses.
 5)  Seahorses live in the sea and cannot be kept in fresh water.
 6)  Seahorses have snouts and suck their prey into small mouths. They only eat live food of small
      crustaceans and fish fry in large numbers. In captivity it is difficult to provide them with
      sufficient food.
 7)  Seahorses live into shallow seas, often in bays sheltered from storms.
 8)  Seahorses always have the scientific name of Hippocampus which means "horse sea monster".
 9)  Seahorses have a hard bony body, without scales like most other fish.
10) Seahorses can grow spiky appendages to their body. This makes them look like seaweed and
      prevents them being discovered and eaten by bigger fish.
11) Seahorses find a partner and will usually stay with him, or her, for life.
12) Pipefishes belong to the same family as Seahorses, but they are much longer, like pipes.
 

About the British Marine Life Study Society
"Best Buy" Book on Seahorses (Book Review and Address of Publisher)
British Marine Life Study Society Page for the younger Reader
British Pipefishes and Seahorses  (list of names, plus Seahorse Reports)
Greater Pipefish: Aquarium Study
Index to British Marine Fish (External) (contains information on British Sea Horses)
Latest News (British Isles)
Leafy Sea Dragon (MLSSA List of Photographs of Australian Marine Fish)
Public Aquaria DataBase (UK)
Rockpooling Page
Seashore Quiz
Sharks for the younger reader
Teacher's Page
Torpedo News Bulletin

The Autumn 1996 magazine of the Marine Conservation Society  has an article on seahorses by Amanda Vincent.

It is not the policy of the British Marine Life Study Society to publish information that is easily available elsewhere. However, the information on this page has been included because of public demand by the younger fish watchers.