{"id":135,"date":"2023-02-27T16:26:51","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T16:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/civatar.com\/suziqsthoughts\/?p=135"},"modified":"2023-02-27T16:26:54","modified_gmt":"2023-02-27T16:26:54","slug":"sea-horses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/civatar.com\/suziqsthoughts\/2023\/02\/27\/sea-horses\/","title":{"rendered":"Sea Horses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’ve always had a fascination with sea horses…though, to me, they look far more like dragons than horses…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What amazing little creatures!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Found in both tropical and temperate waters all across the globe, seahorses are arguably one of the most distinctive and charismatic marine wildlife species in existence. Ranging in length from more than a foot to under one inch, there are more than 40 known species of these \u2018horses of the sea\u2019 recorded by scientists to date. From odd dieting tendencies to adorably romantic relationship rituals, there\u2019s much more to seahorses\u2019 majestic intrigue than their trademark elongated mouths and curly tails. Here are just a few wildly fun facts you may not have known about this charming species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seahorse couples are essentially serial monogamists, sticking with one partner for long periods of time. Remaining committed to a single partner enables seahorses to pass through multiple reproduction cycles during each mating season, heightening the likelihood of successful, continuous procreation over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seahorse ladies need not fret when it comes to gestation and childbirth. Perhaps one of their most distinctive traits, the\u00a0Syngnathidae<\/em> family stands remarkably unique in that it\u2019s the males that carry the burden of pregnancy, not the females.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Seahorses aren\u2019t just different from other fish in their external appearance, either: they\u2019re also ridiculously poor swimmers. They are the slowest-moving of all fish species because of an impeccably tiny fin in the middle of their backs being the only way to propel themselves.  However, while they aren\u2019t all that durable, seahorses are quite unique in that they can not only move forward, but also up, down and backward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While they do struggle when it comes to speed, that doesn\u2019t mean this species isn\u2019t athletic! Their tails are quite flexible for a reason, enabling them to anchor themselves to coral or seaweed when they\u2019re in need of a rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since they don\u2019t have teeth or even a stomach at all like other marine species do, the structure of a seahorse digestive system is also markedly unique. This makeup results in a digestive process that functions with extraordinary rapidity, requiring the animals to feast constantly on a carnivorous diet of tiny fish and planktonic copepods. Don\u2019t let their small size fool you: seahorses can consume up to 3,000 crustaceans like brine shrimp in a single day, sucking them up through their trumpet-like snouts from as much as three centimeters away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, as with most of our ocean life, sea horses are in trouble.\u00a0 Mankind seriously needs to stop using our oceans as trash cans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I’ve always had a fascination with sea horses…though, to me, they look far more like dragons than horses… What amazing little creatures! Found in both tropical and temperate waters all across the globe, seahorses are arguably one of the most distinctive and charismatic marine wildlife species in existence. Ranging in length from more than a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/civatar.com\/suziqsthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/civatar.com\/suziqsthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/civatar.com\/suziqsthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civatar.com\/suziqsthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civatar.com\/suziqsthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/civatar.com\/suziqsthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/civatar.com\/suziqsthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civatar.com\/suziqsthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civatar.com\/suziqsthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}