By Josie Barker and Haley Kim
The health of marine ecosystems lies in the hands of the stallions of the sea. The anchors to the ecological balance of the oceanic food web, and most importantly, the symbols of conservation, the significant seahorses.
While there are countless favorite marine animals to choose from—pufferfish, beluga whales, blobfish—in our humble opinion, nothing can compare to the magnificent sea horse. Why so, might you ask? Perhaps it is because they have no stomachs or maybe because the males give birth to a thousand babies? Whatever the reason, these tiny curly sea creatures are next on the list for the best conversation starters in any setting you can think of! Prepare to have your mind blown by these amazing facts:
- Technically Fish:
Despite their awkward, fleshy, hook-like appearance, seahorses are technically fish. Setting aside their obscure anatomy and scale-lacking lifestyle, these sea-based curly cues are indeed fish!
- Monogamistic Ocean Dwellers:
These oceanic onion fries actually are monogamists, reflecting the typical romantic lifestyle in the human world. Seahorse couples remain committed to a single partner for all of their days, engaging in intricate dances to continuously encapsulate their permanent dates!
- Pregnant Fathers:
I hate to break it to mothers, but fortunately for the seahorse female population, the males take charge when it comes to bearing a child. Thankfully for the lady hippocampuses, the male carries the burden of pregnancy, undergoing the carrying and birthing process of the baby seahorses (however the female still produces the eggs then gives it to the male).
- Awful Aquanauts:
Typically, an aquatic animal embodies traits of a decent swimmer; however, in the seahorse case, they are actually terrible swimmers. However, don’t discredit these creatures because it certainly is not very ergonomic to swim upright.
- Where’s the Stomach?!
To top it off, these freaky perpendicular swimming underwater organisms don’t have stomachs! In place of a belly, seahorses have a simple, tube-like gut to process food, and since they lack storage in the tummy department, they must eat constantly to survive. Boy, with my appetite, I would fit right into the world of seahorses!