Finally, it's the male that is left holding the baby! (Seahorse)

Member Name: Nigel1

Product:	Seahorse
Date:	17/03/09 (190 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Their curious and wonderful lifestyle can be observed.

Disadvantages: None

Having an extremely small life span of perhaps 1-5 years depending on the species, this most graceful and intriguing creature of our seas breaks one of the golden rules of biology. The male, rather than the female is left holding the baby! It is the male, and him alone, who looks after the fertilised eggs via a special brood sac on the front of his abdomen, much like a miniature kangaroo if you please.

With a preferred habitat of coastal areas ranging from Australia to the Caribbean, they prefer the beds and coral reefs where they can easily hide themselves away from their predators.

These most beautifully coloured and odd looking fish also have no teeth or stomachs, therefore, have to suck their food in like some ravenous old lady who has lost her dentures in a game of cards. They swiftly ambush their prey, chasing it around until caught and then suck in as fast as possible, swallowing their catch whole.

Now, I have a couple of these glorious seahorses in my aquarium. It is advisable to have a captive bred one for this purpose because they will accept frozen food such as shrimp, and are not shocked or stressed at being taken out of their natural habitat and placed in an aquarium, unlike their 'wild' counterparts who will only eat live food and would be prone to stress and worry which would, in turn, lower their immune system exposing them to all manner of diseases.

It is absolutely fascinating to watch the movements of these graceful and awe inspiring fish as they propel their way through the water using their small dorsal fins, flapping them almost as fast as a humming bird would flap its own wings, which helps them to move backwards and forwards, keeping them upright too. Their pectoral fins are used to control their steering and turning, and watching this amazing creature combine both the dorsal and pectoral fins to manoeuvre its way around is truly incredible and breathtaking.

Seahorses can vary in size from the dwarf species that are only about an inch and a half long, to the giant seahorse species which can reach a very impressive length of almost fourteen inches.

A few years ago I had both a male and female in my aquarium. Being totally monogamous, they only had eyes for each other and were virtually inseparable. They could be seen majestically gliding through the water together, curling their tails around each other like some love sick teenager clasping his girlfriends hand. They would often come together, dancing and twirling in unison with their tails inseparably linked, like some bizarre underwater Opera.

Sadly, a few weeks later my male seahorse died and less than a day later the female died. I suspect this was of a broken heart as they had paired for life and I suppose she couldn't go on without him. It was heartbreaking to watch this almost human-like of emotions going on in such a small watery world.

Since then I have acquired more seahorses to adorn my aquarium and find it fascinating to observe them closely. For instance, they can change their colouring much like a chameleon does in order to camouflage itself into the surroundings of the tank.

I have also noticed that when they are at rest they will curl their elegant tails around some seaweed or log, I presume this is done in order for them not to float away during their down time.

I have also observed, bizarrely enough, that they tend to 'make love' during a full moon. How romantic is that!! During this period the male seahorse will offer his pouch to the female. This 'offering' can go on for hours until eventually, the female will dock herself to the opening of the pouch and place her eggs in there. The male will then sway back and forth as if to distribute the eggs evenly, and perhaps to show off that he is now pregnant!!

On closer inspection of these wonderful creations it can be seen that they have heads that are horse-like, independently swivelling eyes similar to that of a chameleon, a prehensile tail like that of a monkey and have a pouch like a kangaroo. Four animals for the price of one!

Some called them insects, others called them shellfish, I call them astounding!

Summary: A horse, a horse, a Kingdom for my seahorse!!