What do seahorses eat on the Black Sea coast. Message about a seahorse. Description of the underwater "horse"

Many have seen these marine life on TV or in aquariums, but not everyone realizes how interesting facts about the seahorse can surprise you. These beautiful representatives of fish amaze with their unique properties. However, in the wild it is very difficult to observe them. Moreover, the number of seahorses has recently declined sharply due to the destruction of their habitats.

1. Seahorses are the only fish that have a neck.. Scientists have proven that seahorses are relatives of needlefish. True, during the evolution of their body has changed a lot. Unlike other fish, skates are located vertically in the water due to the fact that the swim bladder is distributed throughout the body. The S-shape of the body allows skates to successfully hunt from cover. They freeze among algae or reefs, and when a tiny larva swims by, they capture it with a turn of their heads.
2. Skates can ride "on horseback" on fish. Due to their curved tail, seahorses can travel long distances. They grab the perch's fins and hold on until the fish swims into the algae. And the skates grab their pair with their tail and swim in an embrace.
3. The eyes of skates move independently of one another.. The organ of vision in a seahorse is similar to the eyes of a chameleon. One eye of these fish can look forward, and the other can see what is happening behind.
4. Disguise Skates. To avoid numerous enemies, seahorses allow the ability to change color depending on the location. Just like chameleons, seahorses match the color of their scales to the color of coral or algae, making them almost invisible.
5. Seahorses have a great appetite. They don't have teeth, they don't even have a stomach. In order not to die, these fish have to eat constantly. With their proboscises, skates draw in plankton, small larvae and crustaceans. And it happens so fast that it's hard to track.
6. Almost no one eats seahorses. These small fish can become the prey of other predators, perhaps by accident. They are almost entirely composed of bones, spines and scales, so there are few hunters for them, except perhaps rays and large crabs.
7. Seahorses are stressed. Stress is often a mortal danger for seahorses. These fish thrive in clean, calm water. Strong pitching at sea leads to the exhaustion of their forces. And with a sudden change of place of residence, they may even die. Therefore, it is difficult to breed skates in aquariums; in an artificial environment, they do not take root well.
8. The female chooses the male. We can say that seahorses have a matriarchy. After all, it is the females who decide which of the males to choose as a spouse.
9. Seahorses perform mating dances. For several days, the female performs a kind of dance together with the alleged chosen one, rising to the surface of the water and sinking to the bottom, intertwining her tails. If the male falls behind the bride, she will most likely leave him and look for another, more profitable party.
10. Male seahorses are "pregnant". If the female has chosen a suitable male for herself, then she remains faithful to him until the end of her life. It is to the male that she entrusts the gestation of eggs and care for the offspring. The female transfers the eggs to a special bag on the body of the male. There, future skates grow for a month and a half. And then they are born full-fledged fish. One male can simultaneously produce from 5 to 1.5 thousand fry. However, male seahorses still cannot be called pregnant. After all, fry are not born in their body, but only remain until full maturation. This is the function of protecting future offspring.

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11. Skates are fragile, but tenacious. One out of a hundred born seahorse fry survives to full-fledged adults. This is a very high figure for fish. It is thanks to this indicator that seahorses have not died out so far.

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12. The horse is on the coat of arms of the city of Zaozersk. For several years in a row, a seahorse was depicted on the coat of arms of the Russian city of Zaozersk (Murmansk region). The image was supposed to symbolize the naval power of the Northern Fleet. But, since seahorses are not found in the waters of the Barents Sea, the image of the seahorse was replaced by the image of a dolphin. It should be noted that seahorses are inhabitants of tropical and subtropical salt water bodies. And the largest seas of Russia are not included in this list.

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13. 30 types of skates are listed in the Red Book. And science knows only 32 species of these fish. There are several reasons for the extinction of seahorses. But almost all of them are related to human activities. In Thailand, Australia, Malaysia, skates are caught in order to dry and use as souvenirs. In oriental medicine, they are used to prepare medicines for asthma and skin diseases. In addition, the habitats of seahorses are polluted or completely destroyed by humans. And the plankton useful for skates is often eaten by jellyfish, which are beneficially affected by climate change.
14. Seahorses are a delicacy. A dish using the liver and eyes of seahorses is served in the most expensive restaurants in the world. These parts of skates are considered very tasty and healthy. The cost of a delicacy is an average of $ 800 per serving. And in China, fried skates are served on sticks.

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15. Skates live on Earth for 40 million years. Despite the fact that fossilized seahorses are rare, scientists have proven that these fish have existed for several tens of millions of years. They appeared at a time when, as a result of tectonic shifts in the earth's crust, shallows formed in the oceans and algae began to spread.

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Of the inhabitants of the underwater world, the most unusual, but known to everyone, are seahorses. They belong to the needle family of the needle-shaped order. The fact is that they are fellow fish called sea needles, whose body is retracted, narrow and long. The largest horses are called dragons, and in total there are about 50 species of seahorses.

After analyzing the structure of the seahorse, scientists found that it originated from the sea needle fish 13 million years ago. In appearance, these species are very similar, only the needle is straightened, and the ridge is curved.

Description of the underwater "horse"

At first glance, it seems that the skate is not a fish at all. If you look at the photo of a seahorse, outwardly it resembles a horse in chess pieces. The silhouette of this unusual fish is curved, the abdomen stands out forward, and the back is rounded. The front part of the body of the skate is narrow and curved in such a way that it resembles the neck and head of a horse. The front of the head is elongated, a fish with bulging eyes. The long tail is wrapped in a spiral. The tail is quite flexible, which allows the seahorse to curl around the seaweed.

His body is covered with a wide variety of bumps, thickenings and outgrowths. On their small body there are bony scales that act as armor, they are bright and shimmer. Such a seahorse shell cannot be pierced, it is very strong and protects from marine predators.

Their color is varied, but still monotonous. The color of the skate cover depends on the habitat, they acquire the most similar color for the best imitation of the surface on which they live. So, for example, if a seahorse is among corals, then most likely it is red or bright yellow or purple. Skates that live in the environment of seaweed are brown, yellow or green in color. They also tend to change shade in cases of habitat changes.

Seahorses are small in size, the smallest start at 2 cm, and the largest reach 20 cm.

Habitat

Seahorses live under water, mainly in the tropics and subtropics. This means that they live all over the planet.

Usually fish live among seaweed or corals in shallow waters. Skates are inactive and inactive. Most of the time they are in a position with their tail hooked on a branch of coral or seaweed. Larger fish - sea dragons - cannot attach themselves to aquatic vegetation in this way.

Lifestyle

Skates swim a little, not far from their usual place and slowly, while the body is held vertically - this is one of the main differences from other fish. In an emergency, if spooked, they can swim in a horizontal position. In danger, the pipit quickly clings to corals or algae with its tail and freezes. He hangs upside down motionless. In this position, the skate can be for a very long time.

They also differ from other inhabitants of the seabed in their meek and calm nature. These fish are not aggressive towards others. But still they belong to predatory fish, as they feed on heterogeneous small organisms - plankton. They track down the smallest mollusks, crustaceans, larvae of other fish and other invertebrates with their rotating eyes. When the prey comes close to the seahorse, he sucks it up with his mouth, while greatly puffing his cheeks. This little fish is insatiable, and it can eat about 10 hours a day.

seahorse breeding

It should also be noted that these fish are monogamous. They say about seahorses that these fish live in married couples all their lives. But it still happens when they change their partners. Another of the main features is that male seahorses hatch eggs instead of females. During the mating season, the skates change: in the female, an ovipositor grows in the form of a tube, and in the male, a bag is formed in the tail area with thickened folds. Before fertilization, the partners have a rather long mating dance. These are touching courtship from the male. It was also revealed that the male seahorse, as it were, adapts to the female, while changing the color of the color to match her.

The female lays eggs in the male's pouch. So the male bears eggs for about two weeks. The bag has a small hole through which the fry are born. As for sea dragons, they don't have a bag. They hatch eggs on the very stem of the tail. The number of eggs varies in different types of skates. So, some may have 5 fry, while others may have 1500 eggs.

The birth itself is painful for the male. It happens that the outcome of the birth of fry for a skate is fatal.

Experiment

One day scientists did an experiment. A pair of males and a pair of females were placed in one tank to breed seahorses. After all the traditional courtship, the female laid her eggs to one of the males for further fertilization. The fertilized male was removed to a nearby aquarium. The remaining male tried to care for this female, but all his efforts were in vain. She ignored him and didn't try to put her eggs in his bag. When they nevertheless returned the male back to the aquarium to the female, she again chose him to fertilize her offspring. So he was cleaned again and again after the eggs were planted on him. Despite the fact that the second male continued to care for her, the female seahorse still chose her former male for breeding. The experiment with the fish was done 6 times - everything remained unchanged.

Fry

Out of a thousand newborn fry, only 5% survive and continue labor.

The fry that have just appeared are already completely independent and move away from their parents, choosing a new habitat for themselves.

Skates in the Red Book

Now most species of seahorses are rare, and some are completely disappearing from the seabed. After all, 30 species are listed in the Red Book. And all because the seahorse breeds in small quantities. There is a ban on the fishing of skates. But despite this, a person catches these fish in huge quantities for the sake of cooking. Gourmets consider the fillet of these fish to be truly a delicacy and sell it at fabulous prices. And also skates are used in oriental medicine, various drugs are made from them for diseases of the skin and asthma. Because of the unusual beautiful appearance of the skates, they are dried and sold in large volumes as souvenirs. People deliberately bend the tail of the skate in the opposite direction so that its shape becomes in the form of the letter S. In nature, such fish do not exist.

Water pollution also plays a big role in the extinction of most species of seahorses. Indeed, every year more and more waste and chemicals processed by industries are thrown into the oceans. Environmental accidents and other pollution affect the extinction of corals, algae, which are so necessary for the life of seahorses.

Breeding seahorses at home

Despite the desire of many aquarium owners to have such an interesting fish at home, the horse is very whimsical for breeding at home. It is prone to various diseases and is too picky about feed.

Rare types of skates are very difficult to endure being in an aquarium. They may become stressed or sick. Therefore, when breeding fish at home, it is necessary to create conditions close to the natural habitat. If you carefully approach the reproduction of a seahorse, then it will delight the owner for 3-4 years.

Aquarium

It is necessary to monitor the temperature of the water in the aquarium. The optimum water temperature for them is approximately 23-25 ​​degrees Celsius. For hot days, you need to take care of installing an aquarium split system or turn on a fan nearby. Otherwise, hot air adversely affects these fish, and they simply suffocate.

In order for a seahorse to feel comfortable at home, in an aquarium, it is necessary to monitor the quality of the water in it. Aquarium water should not contain ammonia or phosphates. At the bottom you need to put corals and algae. Various grottoes, jugs, castles and other products made of artificial materials are also welcome.

Fish nutrition

Seahorses eat often and a lot, so they need to provide 4-5 meals a day. Frozen meat of crustaceans, shrimp and other invertebrate mollusks is suitable for food. They also willingly eat moths and daphnia.

Content Features

The seahorse is very demanding in care, so the owners of such royal fish need to be patient and self-possessed. Here are some features to be aware of:

Neighbors in the aquarium

In the neighborhood, you can put calm fish or invertebrates in the aquarium. Fish should be small, slow and careful. Ideal neighbors for seahorses are blennies and gobies. They will get along well with a snail that does not sting corals and perfectly cleans the aquarium. You can also consider living stones as inhabitants of the "house" of needle-shaped fish. These are small pieces of calcareous rock that have been in warm tropical waters for some time and are inhabited by various living organisms. All new neighbors must be healthy so as not to infect the seahorses.

The seahorse is a small marine fish belonging to the needle family. Represented by 54 species. The size of the smallest individuals is about 2 centimeters, and the body length of the largest can reach 30 centimeters. Scientists involved in the study of the origin of this marine inhabitant conducted various anatomical, genetic, molecular studies and, based on the results obtained, came to the conclusion that he is a very modified needle fish.

The seahorse is a truly unique creation of nature. Lives in the natural environment for 4-5 years. Its appearance and habits are absolutely atypical for fish. In shape, the body of this creature is similar to the figure of a chess horse. It has spines and leathery outgrowths. It is protected not by scales, but by a hard bone shell, which only a land crab can bite through. There are fins on the back and chest. Camouflage body color also contributes to protection from enemies.

The eyes are arranged according to the same principle as that of a chameleon. The swim bladder consists of 2 parts separated by a septum. The head is larger than the ventral. The bladder is located along the body and allows the seahorse to swim in an upright position.

Due to the primitive structure of the digestive system (that is, the absence of teeth and stomach), seahorses are forced to eat almost all the time. They feed on small shrimps and crustaceans, which are drawn in with water by a tubular stigma that functions like a pipette.

The habitat of seahorses is tropical and subtropical seas. They give preference to calm clear water, since rocking on the waves is fraught with exhaustion for them. Move slowly. They don't do well in the new place. They are subject to stress and can even die from the loss of a partner, because they belong to monogamous creatures and choose their life partner once and for all.

Interestingly, the choice is made not by the male, but by the female. She invites suitable "cavaliers" with a kind of dance and gives her sympathy to the fastest and hardiest. In the process of mating, the female lays eggs in a special pocket located on the male's tummy, which bears offspring. After the birth of babies, parents do not take care of them at all, so their survival rate is low.

Due to mass capture and other reasons, today the number of seahorses has decreased, and some species are even at risk of complete extinction, which is why they are listed in the Red Book.

Option 2

The seahorse is a representative of the class of ray-finned fish belonging to the needle family. The genus includes 54 species, the sizes of seahorses vary from 2 to 30 cm.

The habitat of the fish is the coastal regions of subtropical and tropical seas and oceans. Seahorses carry out a sedentary lifestyle, attaching their tails to algae stalks; they practically do not move in the water column. Usually their color depends on the color of the plants, they completely merge with the background, which makes the fish invisible to both prey and predators. The main food of seahorses is small plankton. The elongated stigma sucks small marine animals along with water. Due to the structure of the external skeleton - the shell, which covers the entire body of the seahorse with the exception of the tail section, the fish has practically no natural enemies.

The fish owes its unusual body shape to its anatomical structure. The swim bladder is located along the entire body, its head and abdominal parts are separated by a septum. The seahorse swims upright because the cephalic swim bladder is larger than the ventral swim bladder.

Genetic and molecular studies have revealed that the seahorse is a highly modified needlefish. Their species split in the Late Oligocene. To date, almost no fossils of seahorses have been found, so it is impossible to trace how they acquired the appearance familiar to us in the course of evolution.

The male seahorse bears and gives birth to children. The female lays unfertilized eggs in a special cavity - a pocket present in the abdominal region of the male. There, the eggs are fertilized, and after 1-2 months, young fish appear from them. They look like adults.

Recently, the population of the seahorse has begun to decline, which is associated with uncontrolled human activities. In coastal areas, this amazing fish is being massively caught. Due to their exotic unusual shape, seahorses are used as souvenirs and gifts. It already finds 30 species in the Red Book.

Seahorses are saved by their fertility, at one time the fish can reproduce more than 1000 cubs. However, not all of them are destined to become adults.

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Seahorses have always amazed people with their unusual appearance. These amazing fish are one of the most ancient inhabitants of the seas and oceans. The first representatives of this species of fish appeared about forty million years ago. They got their name because of the similarity with the horse chess piece.

The structure of seahorses

The fish are small. The largest representative of this species has a body length of 30 centimeters and is considered a giant. Most seahorses have modest sizes 10-12 centimeters.

There are also quite miniature representatives of this species - dwarf fish. Their dimensions are only 13 millimeters. There are individuals smaller than 3 millimeters in size.

As mentioned above, the name of these fish is determined by their appearance. In general, it is not easy to understand that in front of you is a fish, and not an animal, at first glance, because a seahorse bears little resemblance to other inhabitants of the sea.

If in the vast majority of fish the main parts of the body are placed in a straight line located in a horizontal plane, then in seahorses the opposite is true. They have major body parts located in a vertical plane, and the head is completely at right angles to the body.

To date, scientists have described 32 species of these fish. All skates prefer to live in shallow water in warm seas. Since these fish are quite slow-moving, they most of all appreciate coral reefs and coastal bottom, overgrown with algae, because there you can hide from enemies.

Seahorses swim very unusually. Their body is kept vertically in the water during movement. This position is provided by two swim bladders. The first is located along the entire body, and the second in the head area.

Moreover, the second bladder is much lighter than the abdominal one, which provides the fish with vertical position in the water when moving. In the water column, the fish move due to the wave-like movements of the dorsal and pectoral fins. The oscillation frequency of the fins is seventy beats per minute.

Seahorses differ from most fish in that they do not have scales. Their body cover the bone plates, united in belts. Such protection is quite heavy, but this weight does not in the least prevent the fish from floating freely in the water.

In addition, bone plates covered with spines serve as good protection. Their strength is so great that it is very difficult for a person to break even the dried shell of a skate with his hands.

Despite the fact that the head of the seahorse is located at an angle of 90⁰ to the body, the fish can only move it in a vertical plane. In the horizontal plane, head movements are impossible. However, this does not create problems with the review.

The fact is that in this fish the eyes are not connected to each other. The horse can look with his eyes in different directions at the same time, so he is always aware of changes in the environment.

The tail of a seahorse is very unusual. He twisted and very flexible. With its help, fish cling to corals and algae when hiding.

At first glance, it seems that seahorses were not supposed to survive in harsh sea conditions: they slow and defenseless. In fact, the fish flourished until a certain time. In this they were helped by the ability to mimicry.

Evolutionary processes have led to the fact that seahorses are easily merge with the surrounding area. At the same time, they can change the color of their body both completely and partially. This is quite enough so that marine predators could not notice the skates if they hid.

By the way, these marine inhabitants use the ability to change the color of their body in mating games. With the help of "color music" of the body, males attract females.

Most people believe that these fish feed on vegetation. This is an erroneous opinion. In fact, these marine fish, for all their seeming harmlessness and inactivity, are notorious predators. The basis of their diet is plankton. Artemia shrimp and shrimp is their favorite treat.

If you carefully consider the elongated snout of the skate, you can see that it ends with a mouth that acts like a pipette. As soon as the fish notices the prey, it turns its mouth towards it and puffs out its cheeks. In fact, the fish sucks its prey.

It is worth noting that these marine fish are quite voracious. They can hunt for 10 hours straight. During this time they destroy up to 3500 crustaceans. And this is with a stigma length of no more than 1 millimeter.

Skate breeding

Seahorses are monogamous. If a couple is formed, it will not break up until the death of one of the partners, which is not uncommon in the living world. What's really amazing is that birth of offspring by males and not females.

It happens in the following way. During love games, the female, using a special papilla, introduces eggs into the hatching bag of the male. This is where fertilization takes place. Then, males carry offspring for 20, and sometimes 40 days.

After this period, already grown fry are born. The offspring are very similar to their parents, but the body of the fry transparent and colorless.

It is noteworthy that males continue to take care of the offspring for some time after birth, which, however, very quickly becomes independent.

Keeping seahorses in an aquarium

You should know that these fish cannot be kept in a regular aquarium. Skates need to create special conditions for survival:

Do not forget that these fish are quite dirty, so the water in the aquarium must be well filtered..

As you remember, skates in nature love to hide from predators in algae and coral reefs. So, you need to create similar conditions for them in the aquarium. You can use the following elements for this:

• artificial corals.
• Seaweed.
• Artificial grottoes.
• Various stones.

An important requirement is that all elements should not have sharp edges that can damage the skates.

Feeding Requirements

Since in nature these fish feed on crustaceans and shrimp, you will have to buy frozen Mysis shrimp for your pets. Feed the skates in the aquarium should be at least twice a day. Once a week, you can pamper them with live food:

• krill;
• brine shrimp;
• live shrimp.

Seahorses cannot compete for food with aggressive fish. Therefore, the choice of comrades for them is limited. Mainly snails of different types: astrea, turbo, nerite, troshus, etc. You can also add a blue hermit crab to them.

In conclusion, we will give one piece of advice: get all the information you have about these marine life before you start your first flock.

Seahorses are very peculiar fish with an outstanding appearance and interesting biology. They belong to the needle family of the order Kolushkoiformes. This affiliation is not accidental, because seahorses, one might say, are brothers of other interesting fish - sea needles. In total, 50 species of seahorses are known, several of the largest species are called sea dragons.

Grass sea dragon, or rag-picker horse (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus).

The appearance of seahorses is so unusual that at first glance it is difficult to recognize them as fish. The body of the skates is intricately curved, the back sticks out like a hump, the abdomen also protrudes forward, the front part of the body is thin and curved like the neck of a horse (hence the name). The head is small, its anterior part is elongated with a tube, the eyes are bulging. The tail of seahorses is long and very flexible; in a calm state, the fish twist it into a ring or wrap their tail around the stems of aquatic plants. The body of the skates is covered with various thickenings, bumps, outgrowths and similar ornaments. The color of these fish is often of the same color, but different species are colored very differently. In any case, the coloring of each species very accurately imitates the color and texture of the surface on which this skate lives. Skates living among aquatic plants are often brown, yellowish, green; seahorses living among corals can be red, bright yellow, purple.

Seahorses are masters of the art of camouflage.

In addition, each fish can change its shade to some extent. Seahorses are small fish, ranging in size from 2 to 20 cm.

The smallest species, the pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti), is only 2 cm long. It is completely indistinguishable from coral branches.

These fish live in the seas of tropical and subtropical zones. Their range encircles the entire globe. Seahorses live in shallow waters among seaweed beds or among corals. These are sedentary and generally very inactive fish. Typically, seahorses wrap their tail around a twig of coral or a tuft of seagrass and spend most of their time in this position. But large sea dragons do not know how to attach themselves to vegetation. For short distances they swim holding the body vertically, if they have to leave the "house", then they can swim in an almost horizontal position. They swim slowly. In general, the nature of these fish is surprisingly calm and meek; seahorses do not show aggression towards fellow tribesmen and other fish.

The intricately decorated leafy sea dragon (Phycodurus eques) is indistinguishable from its surroundings.

They feed on plankton. They track down the smallest crustaceans, rolling their eyes funny. As soon as the prey approaches the miniature hunter, the seahorse puffs out its cheeks, creating negative pressure in the oral cavity and sucks the crustacean like a vacuum cleaner. Despite their small size, skates are big eaters and can indulge in gluttony up to 10 hours a day.

Seahorses are monogamous fish, they live in married couples, but can periodically change partners. It is characteristic that these fish bear eggs, and males and females change roles. During the mating season, a tubular ovipositor grows in females, and in the male, thickened folds in the tail area form a bag. Before spawning, partners perform a long mating dance.

A spawning pair of seahorses.

The female lays the eggs in the male's pouch and he incubates them for about 2 weeks. Newborn fry exit the pouch through a narrow opening. Sea dragons do not have a bag and carry eggs on the tail stalk. The fertility of different species ranges from 5 to 1500 fry. Newborn fish are completely independent and move away from the parent pair.

Eggs on the tail of a sea dragon.

Currently, many species of seahorses have become very rare, and some are even on the verge of extinction. This is facilitated by the massive catch of these fish and their low fertility. Seahorses are caught for meat, which is used in cooking in eastern countries and in oriental medicine. In addition, souvenirs made from dried seahorses are very popular. Keeping seahorses in aquariums is not very easy, they are demanding on food and prone to disease, but it is very interesting to watch them.

Leafy sea dragon hatches eggs.

how a male seahorse gives birth to fry.