What kind of water does a seahorse live in? Sea needles and skates are caring parents. The structure of seahorses

reproduction seahorses living in tropical seas and inhabiting temperate latitudes, is slightly different.

In tropical species, it is quite common to see how males greet females at the first rays of the sun, swimming around their chosen ones and, probably, confirming their readiness for breeding. It is noted that the chest area of ​​the male is stained in dark color, he bows his head and thus makes circles around the female, touching the bottom with his tail. At the same time, the female does not budge, but spins around her axis after the male. Male seahorses belonging to species from temperate zones, on the contrary, inflate their bag, which makes the stretched skin almost white.

During the breeding season, this ritual of greeting is repeated every morning, after which the pair proceeds to "breakfast", remaining in a relatively limited area. At the same time, partners try not to let each other out of their sight. As the moment of mating approaches, the ritual of greeting lasts all day.

It is very important that the fish mature at the same time. On the day when mating takes place, the ritual becomes more frequent. At some point, the female suddenly raises her head and begins to swim up, and the male follows her. At this stage, the female's ovipositor becomes visible, and the male's pouch opens. The female inserts the ovipositor into the opening of the pouch and lays eggs within a few seconds.

If one of the partners is not ready, then spawning is interrupted and everything starts anew. The number of eggs depends, as a rule, on the size of the male (it can be a small, young male, and an adult specimen) and on the type of fish. Some species produce from 30 to 60 eggs for spawning, others - about 500 or more. Synchronization is important

For mating, it is very important that the sex products of both partners mature at the same time. For long-established pairs, mating occurs without a hitch at any time of the day, while for newly formed pairs, one of the partners must wait for the other and remain “fully ready” for several days.

The moment of hatching of fry is also extremely important for many fish. Seahorses are guided by the times of high and low tides, when the current is strongest and can guarantee a wide distribution of offspring. High and low tides are regulated lunar cycle and are especially intense during the full moon. Therefore, it is not surprising that seahorses breed most actively during certain phases of the moon.

The species I observed was reproductive during the full moon, and the birth of fry - four weeks after spawning - again fell on full moon, and after a few days the males were ready to accept a new clutch. During the breeding season, spawning was repeated every four weeks.

The fry hatched in the father's bag and immediately left it. A lot of fry appear at the same time, which makes the male arch his body forward from time to time in order to push them out. Seahorse fry are left to themselves, because after hatching, their parents stop caring for them.

In some species, fry lead a pelagic way of life and drift with the flow, in others they remain in one place. In close relatives of seapikes, the breeding process is basically the same, however, seahorses are the only members of their family that completely hide their eggs in the skin. The rest use folds of skin, which cover the caviar or attach it to special recesses in the body.

The reason for such care of seahorses for offspring may be that in the thickets of grass where fish live, a large number of invertebrates for which caviar serves as food.

In free-swimming pipefish and dragons, such contact is rare, so there is no need for additional protection of offspring. The evolution of role reversal But how did the role reversal occur, as a result of which males of the Syngnathidae family began to bear eggs?

Of course, one can only guess about this, but if you look closely at the fish of related families with the usual breeding process, then a certain conclusion suggests itself about how everything could be.

Like many fishes, among the ancestors of syngnatids, spawning probably proceeded as follows: the male and female moved synchronously upwards and simultaneously excreted eggs and milk. After fertilization, the eggs were carried away by the current, or they settled and stuck, for example, on the stalks of sea grass. If such “sticky” eggs successfully developed and the fry survived, then it can be assumed that stickiness only increased in subsequent generations. And then, probably, individual eggs were glued to the abdomen of the male, which gave them the best chance of survival and protection from predators.

If everything was so, then in the process of evolution, fish improved such “care for offspring”.

Seahorses became the first fish in marine aquariums in Japan and Europe. Many species are not only successfully kept in captivity, but also breed, but this occupation requires a lot of effort and time. AT scientific publications, there is not a single line about the maintenance and breeding of skates in aquariums, however, messages about this appear in aquarium magazines, which, however, are not widely distributed.

Personally, I wrote an article about aquarium breeding sea ​​dragons from caviar, that is, about fish that are recognized as unsuitable for an aquarium. After appearing in a recognized magazine, these fish and their breeding methods very quickly became objects of interest, especially for public aquariums.

live food

Many aquarists breed seahorses, and many public aquariums breed these fish. It mainly takes place in Europe, Japan and Singapore.

Interestingly, many breed the Australian species H. abdominalis, a fairly large pipit that easily adapts to captivity.

I have been able to propagate H. whitei from Sydney and H. abdominalis and H. breviceps from Melbourne. In principle, everything is not so difficult. All it takes is a good sea ​​water, an aquarium, scenery imitating a natural biotope, and a regular supply of fish with quality food.

The latter can be a problem, especially if the hobbyist does not have a good and nutritious frozen food. I had a similar situation, so every second day I had to go to the sea and dive to catch food for my skates.

But through so many efforts, breeding these fish was no problem.

I started in 1980 breeding H. breviceps and H. abdominalis with the goal of photographing the birth of the fry. However, as it soon became clear, this task was not at all an easy one. I still could not get to the right moment and usually found the hatched fry in the morning hours. It took several months before I managed to catch the moment of "delivery", which proceeds very quickly.

"One-Eyed Bandit"

In 1992 I decided to take up tropical species seahorses more seriously. In Sydney harbor I caught four male and three female H. whitei. One of the males was one-eyed, and another was "pregnant."

I planted them in a one square aquarium square meter and a height of 50 cm. The water temperature was a little over 20°C - an absolutely normal indicator for this species. Of all the animals, only two formed a pair and, seven days after the birth of the fry, they began mating, the rest of the “non-pregnant” males began to care for all the females in a row.

The one-eyed male did not lag behind the others and more and more often won the attention of one of the females carrying eggs, but in the subsequent “dance ritual”, describing circles around his chosen one, he suddenly lost sight of her.

As far as I can tell, he didn't have a successful mating. Also, the males tried to expel a friend, thereby getting rid of competitors. They bit their rivals, which was accompanied by a clicking sound. Such behavior prevented the not yet mated skates from "tuning in" to each other: once, for example, the eggs fell past the male's pouch.

Often dark-chested males chased females, but there was no noticeable reaction from the latter. Once a one-eyed male undertook to "besiege" a very large female with large quantity caviar, which, however, did not reciprocate and found another male. True, he showed no interest in her.

The next year, partners often changed each other, and the males continued to see each other only as rivals. For example, one who had just given birth to fry began to besiege another "pregnant" male, who first hid behind "his" female, but was later driven out into a line of furious clicks.

1000 fry per season

At intervals of four weeks, fry appeared on my skates, which I raised in community aquarium. They grew very quickly, but for this I had to regularly catch food in the ocean that the fry could swallow.

The number of fry was so great that I could not leave all of them in the aquarium, therefore, after growing up the fry, I released them into the ocean, about 50 to 200 individuals per month. At birth, the length of the fry reached 12 mm, and within two weeks they grew twice.

A year later, the health of my "savages" deteriorated, and they stopped spawning. On average, each couple produced 80 fry per month, that is, more than 1000 during the year. Interestingly, the reproductive activity of couples increased, as in nature, during the full moon. Soon, the few fry that I kept for myself began to multiply.

« Eternal love»?

My intensive breeding of seahorses was caused not only by own desire to observe the mating and birth of fish, but also the numerous requests of other aquarists who were interested in these processes.

Much of what I saw, I could not find an explanation. For example, during a strong storm, all the seahorses gathered at the top of the seagrass stalk, forming a kind of vine. Yes, and the mating itself was fraught with several surprises.

For example, my seahorses turned out to be not so monogamous as described in the literature!

While filming a view of H. breviceps one day, I noticed how one of the females intervened at the moment of mating and transferred her eggs into the male's already open pouch. On another occasion, a male took eggs from two females at once.

And although these observations were made in an aquarium, I am sure that similar things happen in nature. It seems to me that the assumption of monogamy in seahorses has no basis. Observations in natural conditions last a short time and do not give a hint of how the animals will behave in a year.

Mating requires synchronous maturation, and in that sense, pipits are no different from other reef fish, so I can imagine that it is very difficult to find a new partner during the peak of the breeding season.

In such conditions, it is quite advisable for partners to remain together during the entire breeding season.

However, for most species, if not all, caring for offspring is a "seasonal job", and this season depends on climate changes in the corresponding geographical area.

In the tropics, skates start spawning immediately after the rainy season, and in subtropical zones in the spring, when there should be enough food for juveniles in the water. After the breeding season, the animals seem to disperse and go (or better, swim) their own way. Some species migrate to other zones, often to depths. Sometimes at this time I came across reefs on which there were only males or only females, so it seems to me that in nature, seahorses form their pairs only at the beginning of the breeding season.

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. Most major 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 sight, because sea ​​Horse little like 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 conditions. maritime 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 to 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 marriage 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 sea ​​fish pretty 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 like 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 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 starting your first pack.

The seahorse is a small-sized fish that is a member of the Needle family from the order Sticklebacks. Studies have shown that the seahorse is a highly modified needlefish. Today, the seahorse is a fairly rare creature. In this article you will find a description and photo of a seahorse, learn a lot of new and interesting things about this extraordinary creature.

The seahorse looks very unusual and the shape of the body resembles a chess piece of a horse. The seahorse fish has many long bony spines and various leathery outgrowths on its body. Thanks to this body structure, the seahorse looks invisible among the algae and remains inaccessible to predators. The seahorse looks amazing, it has small fins, its eyes rotate independently of each other, and its tail is twisted into a spiral. The seahorse looks diverse, because it can change the color of its scales.

The seahorse looks small, its size depends on the species and varies from 4 to 25 cm. In the water, the seahorse swims vertically, unlike other fish. This is due to the fact that the swim bladder of a seahorse consists of an abdominal and a head part. The head bladder is larger than the abdominal one, which allows the seahorse to maintain an upright position when swimming.

Now the seahorse is becoming less and less common and is on the verge of extinction due to the rapid decline in numbers. There are many reasons for the extinction of the seahorse. The main one is the destruction by man of both the fish itself and its habitats. Off the coast of Australia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, skates are massively caught. Exotic appearance and the bizarre shape of the body caused people to start making gift souvenirs from them. For beauty, they artificially bend their tail and give the body the shape of the letter "S", but in nature the skates do not look like that.

Another reason that contributes to the decline in the population of seahorses is that they are a delicacy. Gourmets highly appreciate the taste of these fish, especially the eyes and liver of seahorses. In a restaurant, the cost of one serving of such a dish costs $ 800.

In total, there are about 50 species of seahorses, 30 of which are already listed in the Red Book. Fortunately, seahorses are very prolific and can produce over a thousand fry at one time, which keeps the seahorses from disappearing. Seahorses are bred in captivity, but this fish is very whimsical to keep. One of the most extravagant seahorses is the rag-picker seahorse, which you can see in the photo below.

The seahorse lives in tropical and subtropical seas. Seahorse fish lives mainly at shallow depths or near the coast and leads a sedentary lifestyle. The seahorse lives in dense thickets algae and other marine vegetation. It attaches with its flexible tail to plant stems or corals, remaining almost invisible due to its body covered with various outgrowths and spikes.

The seahorse fish changes body color to blend in completely with environment. Thus, the seahorse successfully disguises itself not only from predators, but also during food production. The seahorse is very bony, so few people want to eat it. The main hunter of the seahorse is the large land crab. The seahorse can travel long distances. To do this, he attaches his tail to the fins of various fish and keeps on them until the "free taxi" swims into the algae thickets.

What do seahorses eat?

Seahorses eat crustaceans and shrimps. Seahorses are very interesting eaters. The tubular stigma, like a pipette, draws prey into the mouth along with water. Seahorses eat quite a lot and hunt almost the whole day, taking short breaks for a couple of hours.

During the day, seahorses eat about 3 thousand planktonic crustaceans. But seahorses eat almost any food, as long as it does not exceed the size of the mouth. The seahorse fish is a hunter. With its flexible tail, the seahorse clings to algae and remains motionless until the prey is in the required proximity to the head. After that, the seahorse sucks in water along with food.

How do seahorses reproduce?

Seahorses breed quite in an unusual way because the male carries the fry. It is not uncommon for seahorses to have monogamous pairs. The mating season of seahorses is an amazing sight. The couple, who are about to enter into a marriage union, are fastened with their tails and dance in the water. In the dance, the skates are pressed against each other, after which the male opens a special pocket in the abdominal region, into which the female throws eggs. In the future, the male bears offspring for a month.

Seahorses breed quite often and bring large offspring. A seahorse gives birth to one thousand or more fry at a time. Fry are born an absolute copy of adults, only very tiny. The babies that are born are left to their own devices. In nature, a seahorse lives for about 4-5 years.

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

Herbal sea ​​Dragon, or rag-picker (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 twist the stems around their tail. aquatic plants. The body of the skates is covered with various thickenings, bumps, outgrowths and similar decorations. 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.

Most small view- 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 covers the entire Earth. 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 it in that position. most time. 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. Characteristically, these fish bear eggs, with males and females changing roles. AT mating season in females, a tube-shaped ovipositor grows, 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. They catch seahorses for their meat, which is used in cooking. 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.

To the question did you know that the male seahorse gives birth to children ??? given by the author ANNA DEMCHENKO the best answer is I knew.

Answer from Caucasian[master]
and what does the woman do?

Answer from tales[guru]
He carries them in a special bag on his body.

Answer from stripe[guru]
He does not give birth to them, in the truest sense of the word. He finishes the caviar, which is passed to him by the female. The fry hatch in the male's pouch and go outside.

Answer from Artyom Loginov[newbie]
She does not give birth but carries them on her body, the female fertilizes the eggs on the body of the male and he bears them on himself

Answer from Olga trofimova[guru]
no, i didn't know, thanks

Answer from Anatoly Petunin[guru]
Zoology should be taught at school. What school is it now. Discovery look - a lot of interesting things

Answer from Alexa Khokhlova[guru]
The most unique feature of seahorses is breeding. Very controversial issue- who, female or male, gives birth to cubs. In any case, the male carries the fry. On his stomach, near the anus, there are two skin folds, fused into a bag. During the breeding season, this bag thickens and is permeated with blood vessels: this is how the male prepares to receive eggs and feed the embryos. At the same time, the female's cloaca extends, forming the genital papilla, with which the eggs are introduced into the male's pouch. The grooming process for skates includes song and dance. During the mating season, seahorses sing. In any case, they make rather low sounds, reminiscent of snapping fingers. These songs intensify during the breeding season. Skate dance includes ritual walks "under the arm" (weaving tails) and graceful whirling among the seaweed. Then the fish cling to each other, at this moment the male opens the bag wide and the female puts several eggs into it. After some time, the action is repeated with the same or with another chosen one, and again the bag is replenished with several eggs. This continues until the bag is filled to the brim. The number of hatched embryos in different species is from 20 to 1000. The size of the eggs is approximately 2 mm. The duration of development is 20 - 28 days.
In skates, like in other fish, caviar has a supply nutrients(yolk), which means that the embryos have something to eat. However, a highly developed network of blood vessels was found in the walls of the bag, functionally similar to the placenta of mammals. It can be assumed that the offspring feed not only on the yolk, but also on what the father's blood brings them, as happens in mammals. Therefore, they say that the mother and father of skates have switched roles. The male is difficult to endure pregnancy and childbirth
This is how aquarists describe the birth of seahorses: “A pregnant male firmly clung to the stem of the plant and began to make rhythmic movements, while massaging his inflated belly with his muzzle. At this moment, the opening of the bag began to open little by little and several tails appeared from it. Through the thin wall of the bag one could see little heads with black eyes. Finally, one of the tails got ahead of the others and stuck out almost halfway, and a minute later, through the efforts of the struggling father, the first cub jumped out of the bag. So, with hard work, in a few minutes, the male emptied the bag. "But even after hatching, the male carries them in the bag for some time. Bending the body in an upward arc, he opens the bag, and the fry come out of it, but in case of danger they again hide there.
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