SeahorsePrepared by: Sumaiah Alghamdi & Norah Alhoshani

Submitted to: D. muzzamel

Content

• Introduction

• Seahorse classification

• History

• Appearance.

• Habita.

• Diate.

• Movement.

• Camouflage &Types.

• Life cycle & predators.

• Reproduction

Introduction

_

•seahorses are tiny fish. they are named after the shape of their head that sort of looks like a head of tiny horse • there are at least 25 species of seahorse and the spiny sea dragon .you will find them in the worlds tropical and temperate coastal waters

Classification

_

Kingdom:

Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Order: Syngnathiformes

Family: Syngnathidae

Genus: Hippocampus"Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek

 hippos meaning "horse" and kampos meaning "sea monster

History

_

oldest fossil seahorse hippocampus slovenicus the fossil include babies and adults of several species, and are dated at 13 million years old making them the oldest seahorse fossils found so far.

Appearance

_

•seahorse appear to be very different from other fishes in the sea•They are tiny , have a horse -like head , monkey -like tail and kangaroo -like pouch , their eyes are like a chameleon.• They have thin skin stretched over a series of bony plates that are visible as rings around the trunk.

Appearance

_

Appearance

• some species also have spiny plates

cover seahorses bodies from the tip of

their head down to their curly tails

• a group of spines on the top of the

head is called coronet because it look

like a crown

Appearance

• when seahorses are babies , they

are only about 5 centimeters

long but they can grow up to 36

cm long

Habitat

• Seahorses are found in tropical and subtropical

costal and reef waters all over the pacific, Atlantic

and Indian oceans.

• Seahorses are also found in mangrove roots , sea

grass beds, mud slopes , open waters, eel grass

, kelp and rocks.

• The large belly seahorse is the only seahorse found

in new Zealand.

Habitat

Eating

• seahorses eat tiny organisms such as small

shrimp , as well as very small fish and

plankton.

• sometimes they eat small fish larvae or

anything small enough for them to swallow .

• seahorses eat sucking through their tube-like

snout.

Eating

Movement

• They move independently of each other and in

all directions

• When there are storms, seahorses clim to pieces

of seaweed with their tails .

• The storms toss them off and washes them

ashore, so they cannot get back to the sea

until the tide comes in.

Movement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQsRVsDb4YI

Camouflage & Types

• Seahorses can come in all different colors , they

are master of camouflage .

• They can change color to blend in with their

habitat.

• Some are bright color to blend in with coral but

some are brownish color to blend in with rocks.

Camouflage & Types

• many species have blotchy skin patterns

which help obscure their outline they

can change color in a matter of minutes

to match their surrounding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3CtGoqz3ww

Types

Types

Types

Seahorse reproduction

male seahorse are responsible

about pregnancy and giving birth.

pregnancy lasts between two and

four weeks, the length decreasing

with increasing Temperature.

COURTSHIP the reproductive process begins when male and

female seahorse do daily pre_ dawn dances.

The courting ritual involves dancing, changing

color and entwining tails.

 Sometimes, more than one male seahorse will

compete to win the affections of a female.

Males can inflate their pouch by pumping water

through it to display its emptiness.

the purpose of courtship behavior is to entice

the female to deposit her eggs in it.

COURTSHIP

https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=zvGRVWGpdNg&f

eature=related

Egg transfer after eight hours of courtship, female

seahorse depositing her eggs in male’s

pouch that located on its stomach.

The male releases his sperm directly into

seawater to fertilize the eggs.

the eggs will be  embedded in the pouch wall

and become surrounded by a spongy tissue.

the pouch acts as uterus of female mammal

completed with a placental fluid that provide

nutrients and oxygen.

pregnancy

the male seahorse provide oxygen

and nutrients through a network of

capillaries.

the eggs hatch in the pouch, and

the embryos will remain in the

pouch for two to six weeks,

depending on species and

temperature, as they develop into

fully formed juveniles.

pregnancy

Giving Birth

the male undergoes

muscular

contraction

( pumping) expel

the young , known

as “fry” from the

pouch.

Young  Newborns measure between two and

twelve millimeters, depending on

species.

The fry often grasp floating or still

objects, and even each other, with their

tails.

fewer than five infant seahorse in every

1000 survive to adulthood.

young

JUVENILES

 the young undergo only small

changes after emerging from the

father.

During growth some body proportions

may change but they don’t experience

major body changes.

Some newborns emerge with a small

fin which is lost over time.

Adults

Mature male seahorses have the

ability to become pregnant any

time during the breeding season,

which varies with species.

This is thought to be influenced by

environmental conditions such

as water temperature.

Seahorse stages

https://www.youtube.com/wa

tch?v=JwlZAFoidpw

Cutting the ties

after giving birth , the parents do

not provide to their tiny offspring

with any care or production.

Infant seahorse are susceptible to

death from predators and being .

Fewer than five infant seahorse in

every 1000 survive to adult hood.

Predators

• there are lots of animals in the wild that the

seahorse has to be careful of sharks and

squid are the main predators of seahorses.

• Tuna, rays and crabs are also predators of

the seahorses. people hunt seahorses for

medicine , cooking and souvenirs.

• These unique little animals are endangered

References

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

news/2002/06/

0614_seahorse_recov.html

Thanks