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Seahorses range in size from 1.5 to 35 cm (0.6 to 13.8 in). [13] They are named for their equine appearance, with bent necks and long 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 throughout their bodies.
The pectoral fin is level with the eye on each back side of the lined seahorse's head. The dorsal fin is located on the back of the skeleton and is level with the stomach–chest area. Female dorsal fins are slightly larger than the male's and are located lower on the back.
Compared to an adult seahorse, offspring within the brood pouch have a rounded tail instead of tetrahedral tail, a wider and shorter snout, a dorsal fin that is closer to the tail, and pectoral fins that are closer to the back of the head. [6] Season and water temperature disproportionately influences the sex ratio of developing seahorses. [6] [11]
Like other seahorses, the tiger tail seahorse has bony plates arranged in rings throughout its body, with this species in particular having 11 trunk rings and 33 to 37 tail rings. The dorsal fin has 17 to 19 rays, while the pectoral fin has 16 to 19 rays. Two spines extend from each cheek, in addition to a prominent spine on the nose.
Male seahorses have a specialized ventral brood pouch to carry the embryos, male sea dragons attach the eggs to their tails, and male pipefish may do either, depending on their species. [4] The most fundamental difference between the different lineages of the family Syngnathidae is the location of male brood pouch. [5]
Pygmy seahorses have a single gill opening on the back of the head (instead of two on the sides as in normal seahorses), and the males brood their young inside their trunk, instead of in a pouch on the tail. [11] A molecular phylogeny confirms that the pygmy seahorses are a monophyletic sister lineage of all other seahorses. [10]
The population of White’s seahorses, also known as Sydney seahorses, have been in decline due to habitat loss and degradation of their natural habitat.Video shared on social media captured diver ...
Pacific seahorses face many of the same threats that other seahorses face; over 20 million seahorses are sold each year to be used in Chinese medicine, the aquarium trade, or dried as curios. Mexico and Peru are the largest exporter of pacific seahorses, selling more than 1 dry ton annually. [ 5 ]