Seahorses

🌎 Conservation & Population

Many seahorse species are considered threatened or endangered due to habitat loss!

Over 20 million seahorses are caught each year for use in traditional medicines!

Seahorses are often unintentionally caught in fishing nets, a phenomenon known as bycatch.

🌟 Fun and Unique Facts

Seahorses can move their dorsal fin 30–70 times per second to help them swim!

A seahorse’s armor-like skin is made of hard bony plates but still flexible enough to bend!

Seahorses don’t have a lateral line like other fish — instead, they use their coronet (a crown-like structure on their heads) to detect water movement!

Some seahorses can stretch their snouts to twice their normal length to catch prey hiding in small spaces!

A seahorse’s eyes work independently, giving them a 360-degree field of vision!

Some seahorses can detect ultraviolet light, helping them find tiny prey!

Baby seahorses grow nearly 0.04 inches (1 millimeter) every day during their first weeks of life!

Male seahorses’ pouches develop when they’re about 5–6 months old!

Seahorses can double their size in the first six weeks of life!

Seahorses take small “naps” throughout the day, lasting about 2–6 minutes each!

Most seahorses are most active during twilight hours, dawn and dusk!

The largest seahorse species weighs about as much as 70 paper clips!

A seahorse’s snout is about as long as its entire head!

The smallest seahorse species is shorter than your thumb!

A baby seahorse is lighter than a single grain of rice!

A seahorse can curl its tail tight enough to fit through a wedding ring!

Each species of seahorse has a different number of bony rings around its body!

Some seahorse species have spiky crowns that look like tiny thorny branches!

The longest recorded seahorse snout was nearly one-third of its body length!

Some seahorses have fluorescent spots that glow under special light!

A seahorse’s armored body can have up to 50 protective plates!

Some seahorses live in water as shallow as 2 feet (60 centimeters) deep!

Certain seahorse species can survive in water that’s twice as salty as normal seawater!

Some seahorses live in water temperatures as cold as 50°F (10°C)!

Seahorses can be found from the ocean surface down to depths of up to 328 feet (100 meters)!

Researchers use special tags smaller than a grain of rice to track seahorses in the wild!

Seahorses are known to produce two primary types of sounds, clicking and growing.

Australian seahorses are generally larger than their Asian cousins!

Mediterranean seahorses often have brighter colors than those living in the Pacific Ocean!

Caribbean seahorses typically have longer snouts than those found in the Indian Ocean!

European seahorses can survive in water temperatures 5°F (2.8°C) colder than tropical species!

Seahorses have a special immune system that helps them heal wounds quickly!