Seahorse speed. Miracle fish: seahorse. What do seahorses eat?

Among unusual fish, the seahorse is particularly unusual: it is difficult to recognize it as a fish. Let's talk a little about seahorses - how are they different from their other brothers from the class of fish?

Almost all fish swim the same way: the body is located horizontally and in the direction of movement. In seahorses, when swimming, the body is vertical, or slightly tilted forward. The strange way in which seahorses position their bodies when swimming is associated with the structure of these fish.

Fins and swim bladder

In most fish we see several fins: dorsal, caudal, anal, paired abdominal and paired pectoral. Seahorses have half as many fins: they have only three fins that help them move in the water:

• A very small fan-shaped dorsal fin is necessary for forward locomotion.
• Tiny pectoral fins help maintain vertical balance and control movement.

The swim bladder helps them support their body vertically. It is located along the entire body, its front part extends into the head, which is typical only for this fish.

The swim bladder is divided into two parts. The volume of the head part of the bladder is noticeably larger than the abdominal part. It is this structure of the swim bladder that contributes to the vertical position of the skate when swimming. The seahorse is designed like a float: the upper part of the body is lighter than the lower part. The center of gravity is shifted downwards - to the tail part of the body, so the head is lighter and is located at the top.

Reproduction: Ritual morning greetings and male color changes

How seahorses reproduce - the incredible and strange uniqueness of this amazing fish. The male and female seem to have switched roles - the male carries and gives birth to the cubs. Scientists learned about this quite recently - in the last century.

Before talking about reproduction, you need to pay attention to the external integument of the seahorses:

• The body of seahorses is covered on top with bony plates that form very strong, spiny armor. This is a real shell that is difficult to break even in dead fish.
• The female's body is completely covered with bony plates, while the male has no plates at the base of the abdomen. Because here is a voluminous leathery pocket in which he bears his offspring.

Reproduction of seahorses living in tropical seas has interesting behavioral features. Early in the morning, males perform ritual greetings: each male swims around his chosen one, as if demonstrating readiness to reproduce. It is noted that at these moments the male’s shell in the chest area turns dark. With his head bowed, he moves in circles around the female, his tail slightly touching the bottom.

What about the female? She reacts to this behavior of the male - she begins to spin around herself after the male, but does not move from her place. During the breeding season, the greeting ritual is repeated every morning. Having completed this peculiar dance, the couple begins to have breakfast. The fish remain in a limited area and try to keep each other in sight. The closer the moment of mating, the longer the greeting ritual becomes and can even last the whole day.

In temperate latitudes, male seahorses during the breeding season inflate their leathery pouch so that the skin becomes very stretched and becomes almost white.

Mating and spawning

We continue to explore the process of how seahorses reproduce and how mating occurs:

• Mating requires that the male and female mature at the same time.
• On the day of mating, during the greeting ritual, at a certain moment the female sharply raises her head and swims upward.
• The male moves after her. At this moment, the female’s ovipositor is clearly visible, and the male’s pouch opens wide.
• The female directs the ovipositor into the wide opening of the pouch and lays eggs there.
• The process of laying eggs occurs in several stages, each lasting a few seconds. The female lays eggs until the bag is completely filled (it can hold more than 600 eggs).

If one of the partners is not ready, spawning is interrupted and the whole process begins again. The number of eggs laid usually depends on the size of the male and the type of fish. Different species produce from 30 - 60 eggs to 500 or more per spawning. For example, a long-snouted seahorse: an aged 10-12 centimeter female can lay more than 650 eggs.

Let's talk a little about male seahorses:

• The male's readiness to mate is also manifested in a change in the internal state of the skin of the pocket: from the inside it becomes like a sponge filled with blood vessels.
• The large number of blood vessels on the inside of the bursa plays an important role in the development of eggs. This is an amazing feature of the structure of male seahorses!

When the eggs are laid and the pouch is completely filled with “priceless cargo,” the future daddy horse swims away with an inflated pocket, becoming like a unique “living stroller” filled with cubs.

The birth of small hippocampuses - seahorses

After 1-2 months, tiny fry are born - exact copies of their parents. The male squeezes his offspring through a special hole in the pouch. When pushing out the last baby, the father fish can sometimes experience very strong and noticeable “birth pangs.” Therefore, the birth of babies is a very exhausting process for the male.

Immediately after birth, seahorse fry become independent because they do not receive any help from their parents. They begin to feed immediately after leaving the pouch. Different species have different behavioral strategies: the fry of some species move with the flow, others remain in the place of birth.

Are seahorses monogamous?

For a long time it was believed that seahorses are monogamous - they mate with one permanent partner.

It is likely that early naturalists who observed this behavior in one or two species concluded that it was characteristic of all seahorses. Over time, observations by both amateur aquarists and ichthyologists have proven that this is a myth. Seahorses are not at all monogamous.

British ichthyologists studied the sexual behavior of seahorses of different species and saw that individual individuals can “flirt” with 25 different partners during the day. For example, only five pairs of British spiny seahorses were faithful to each other, but twelve pairs were not.

In the home aquarium, there have also been cases where a male accepted eggs from two females at the same time. It is likely that similar behavior during reproduction can be observed in nature too.

Signs of courtship in seahorses include color changes, synchronized swimming, and intertwining of tails.

Menu of seahorses in nature and in the aquarium

What do seahorses eat in the wild? Their food is tiny zooplankton (crustaceans). By type of feeding they are ambush predators:

• Having a camouflage camouflage, its tail caught in the algae, the fish stands vertically in the water and tracks down its prey.
• Having noticed the crustacean, the horse examines it for a couple of seconds, rolling its eyes in a funny way.
• Then he inflates his cheeks, so high pressure is created in his mouth.
• And immediately, like a vacuum cleaner, he pulls the crustacean into his mouth and swallows it.
• Prey can be retracted from a distance of 4 cm.

Seahorses feed up to 10 hours a day and can eat more than 3,000 thousand brine shrimp. In the aquarium, these voracious fish willingly eat shrimp, live and frozen mysids, artemia, daphnia, and bloodworms. It is recommended to feed them twice a day daily, and the food should be varied. On some brine shrimp, pipits may feel hungry.

The place of the seahorse in the fish system, the Red Book and 2 hryvnia

Seahorses are small sea fish, ranging in size from 2 to 30 cm. They belong to the phylum of chordates, the subphylum of vertebrates, the superclass of fish - the class of bony fish and the subclass of ray-finned fish, the order Stickleback, the family of spiny fish, the genus seahorses. The closest relatives of seahorses are pipefish, in which the male also bears the offspring.

Seahorses are currently on the verge of extinction. Many species are listed in the Red Book, for example the long-snouted seahorse from the Black Sea. This horse is depicted on a coin with a face value of 2 hryvnia, which was issued by the National Bank of Ukraine.

The massive catch of these exotic fish for making souvenirs has led to their complete disappearance in the Black Sea recreation areas. And since 1994, the Black Sea population of this species is listed in the Red Book of Ukraine, and its catching is prohibited.

Children really like seahorses. Make a “Seahorse” bookmark with your child and, while completing a creative task, study the features of the appearance of this amazing fish.

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These creatures look like anything but fish. Sea Horses- inhabitants of the tropics, but are also found in the Black Sea, for example, near the city of Feodosia. In dense thickets of underwater plants you can catch dozens of them. Sea Horses belong to the family of pipefish. Over 30 species are known.

Most sea ​​Horse looks like a knight chess piece. A bizarre, but clearly horse-like muzzle on a long neck that goes into the chest, and instead of a stand, a rather long, curled tail. Clinging to the branches of plants with their tails, the skates stick out in the thickets, like candles or funny toys on a Christmas tree.

Skates swim, if this can be called swimming, in an upright position with their heads slightly tilted downwards using wave-like movements of the dorsal fin, located just above the tail, and strong strokes of the pectoral fins.

The horse's tiny mouth is located at the end of its long, tube-like muzzle. Therefore, the fish feed only on fry, which they suck in when it swims directly into the mouth. However, they do not starve at all. In the dense underwater jungle, greenish-brown pipits are not easy to spot. Small game does not notice them, is not afraid, and they always have enough food.

With your habits Sea Horses They don't look like fast horses at all. It would be more correct to call them sea kangaroos, since they do not throw their eggs into the water, as most fish do. Salty sea water is harmful to eggs. They would quickly die in it. During the mating season, the skates, breaking into pairs, perform a charming dance, during which they spin around each other, and at the end of the waltz, they intertwine their tails. Then the female, using the ovipositor, introduces the eggs into the male’s pouch, where they are fertilized and develop. The liquid filling the pockets contains no more salts than the caviar itself. But as the caviar develops, it becomes saltier in the pockets. This is necessary in order to gradually prepare the fry for life in sea water. This is how the little fish live, like baby kangaroos, for two whole months in a pouch on their dad’s belly.

When the development of the larvae is completed, the father begins to bend forward and backward, helping the children get out of the inner folds of the bag, and squeezes the babies into the water in batches. Large males may have several hundred of them. Tiny tips, no more than 6 millimeters long, once in the wild, the first thing they do is try to cling to something with their thin tails, but most often they grab each other and - grandfather for a turnip, grandmother for grandfather - remain hanging for a couple of days as a whole garland, but At the same time, do not forget to hunt.

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. In an unfamiliar environment, they get along poorly, 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 message about the seahorse can be used in preparation for the lesson. A story about a seahorse for children can be supplemented with interesting facts.

Report about the seahorse

Seahorses belong to the class of bony fish. There are about 50 species in total. Seahorses can range in size from 2 to 30 cm, depending on the species. An ordinary seahorse can live 5 years.

Their body shape is similar to a chess piece of a knight. Numerous long spines and ribbon-like leathery outgrowths located on the skate’s body make it invisible among the algae and inaccessible to predators.

The habitat of seahorses is tropical and subtropical seas.

Seahorse description

The head of these fish is similar to that of a horse, but there are no scales. Their body is covered with hard bony plates. With its tail bent forward, the seahorse clings to the stems of sea grass like a monkey. A seahorse's eyes rotate in any direction, and if one eye is looking to the right, the other may be looking at something to the left at the same time. This is very convenient for the skate, since it can simultaneously inspect the algae from all sides in search of food and keep an eye on the enemies, who themselves would not mind eating it.

The seahorse does not like to swim and spends most of its life with its tail caught in algae. Swims slowly and only in search of food, during weddings and to escape from enemies.

It's interesting to watch a seahorse swim. A large swim bladder located in the skate's head helps it maintain an upright position. It does not move horizontally, but jerks up and down, moving diagonally in the direction of the target.

What do seahorses eat?

Seahorses lead a bottom-dwelling lifestyle, feeding on plankton and small invertebrates.

Reproduction of seahorses

These animals also have an unusual method of reproduction. When the eggs reach the desired stage, the females begin to compete with each other for male attention. Having achieved favor, the female lays part of the eggs in a special sac, which is located on the male’s abdomen. There the eggs are fertilized. The male carries the eggs until the young hatch. There can be from 2 to 1000 individuals. If many cubs are born, their father may even die. During the breeding season, fry hatch every 4 weeks. Immediately after birth, they are left to their own devices.

Interesting facts about seahorses

• The pipit is very bony, so it is hunted only by large land crabs that can digest it.
• Seahorses' eyes are similar to those of chameleons and can move independently of each other;
• The seahorse is a master of camouflage. Their scales can become “invisible” - merge with the environment;
• Their mouth works like a vacuum cleaner - they suck up plankton to eat.

We hope the information presented about the seahorse helped you. You can leave your report about the seahorse using the comment form.

David Juhasz

Not many of the Creator's creations look so incredible and beautiful at the same time. This fish swims slowly in an upright position, curling its tail forward to capture algae tendrils while its alert eyes help it search for food and avoid danger.

Sea Horses They are among the popular pets kept in aquariums. If an aquarium with these fish is installed in any public place, they immediately attract the attention of visitors. People throng to watch these exquisite fish floating in the aquarium. Sometimes seahorses meet and connect with their tails. Then, just as elegantly, they untwist their tails and calmly disperse in different directions.

Seahorses tend to live along the shore, among seaweed and other plants. They have only one mating partner. The distance they travel does not exceed a few meters. The seahorse's body length ranges from 4 to 30 cm, and it continues to grow throughout the three years of its life.

Evolution cannot explain the origin of the seahorse's reproductive functions. The whole process of childbearing is too “unorthodox”.

There are different types of seahorses: dwarf (Atlantic species, smaller in size than other species), brown, found in Europe, large brown or blackish, found in the Pacific Ocean, and medium (in size), found in Australian waters.

Unique creation

Sea Horse is such a unique being that it is indeed very difficult to accept (as evolutionists want it to be) that he is the product of undirected evolutionary forces. Examine the seahorse carefully and you will see that all the features of its design testify to the miracle of creation by God the Creator.

The top of the seahorse's body is covered with a bony shell that protects it from danger. This shell is so hard that you cannot crush a dry dead skate with your hands. Its strong skeleton makes the seahorse unattractive to predators, so this fish is usually left unharmed.

The female seahorse is completely encased in this protective shell. The male's body is also enclosed in it, with the exception of the lower part of the body. The shell is often covered with numerous bone rings.

The uniqueness of the seahorse among fish is that its head is located at a right angle to its body. When swimming, its body remains upright. The seahorse's head can move up or down, but cannot turn sideways. The inability to move his head in different directions would likely cause problems in other creatures, but the Creator in His wisdom designed the seahorse so that its eyes move and rotate independently of each other while simultaneously observing events in different directions from it.

In order to swim vertically, it uses fins. It sinks and rises, changing the volume of gas inside its swim bladder. If the swim bladder is damaged and even a small amount of gas is lost, the seahorse sinks to the bottom and lies helpless until death.

If it is a product of evolution, then we must ask the question: how did this creature manage to survive while its swim bladder evolved? The idea of ​​a seahorse's complex swim bladder gradually evolving through trial and error is simply unimaginable. It is surely more reasonable to believe that this being was created by a Great Creator.

The male gives birth to the babies!

Perhaps the most incredible (if not strange) feature of the seahorse is that the male gives birth to the young. Scientists became aware of this unusual phenomenon only in the last century.

At the very base of the male seahorse's abdomen (where there is no protective shell) there is a large leathery pocket and a slit-like opening. And when the female lays eggs directly into this pocket, the male fertilizes them.

The female lays eggs in the pocket until it is completely full (it can contain more than 600 eggs). The inner lining of the pocket becomes like a sponge, filled with blood vessels that play a role in feeding the eggs. This is an extraordinary feature of a male seahorse! When the laying of eggs is complete, the future dad sails away with his inflated pocket, representing a kind of living stroller for the cubs.

After one or two months, the male gives birth to tiny babies - an exact copy of the adults. The miniature addition to the family is squeezed through the hole until the bag is completely empty. Sometimes the male experiences very strong labor pains in order to push out the last cub. The birth of cute babies is an amazing sight, but for the male the process of childbirth is very grueling. Seahorses that are born are not called "sea stallions", but simply "babies".

Evolution cannot explain the origin of reproductive functions seahorse. The whole process of childbearing is too “unorthodox”. Indeed, the structure of the seahorse appears to be a mystery if you try to explain it as a result of evolution. As one prominent specialist said several years ago: “In relation to evolution, the seahorse is in the same category as . Because he is a mystery that confuses and destroys all theories trying to explain the origin of this fish! Recognize the Divine Creator, and everything will be explained.".

Problems with evolutionary theory related to fossils

IN seahorse The Creator's plan is clearly and clearly manifested. But the fossil record poses another problem for those who believe in evolution. To defend the idea that seahorse is the product of evolution over millions of years, proponents of this theory need fossils that show the gradual development of a lower form of animal life into the more complex form of a seahorse. But, much to the regret of evolutionists, "no fossilized seahorses have been found".

Like the multitude of creatures that fill the seas, skies and land, the seahorse has no link that can connect it with any other form of life. Like all major types of living creatures, the complex seahorse was created suddenly, as the book of Genesis tells us.