Message on the topic of seahorse. Miracle Fish: Seahorse

Avid aquarists enjoy breeding a wide variety of exotic fish and bright, unusual animals that attract with their non-standard, bizarre proportions and interesting, sometimes playful behavior. And none, and even cannot be compared with the brightest inhabitants of sea waters - seahorses.

The seahorse is one of the most unusual representatives of the aquarium world. Despite their bizarre shapes, all seahorses belong to the subgroup of bony marine fish, the spiny fish order.

This is interesting! There are only one males on the planet, who themselves bear their future offspring - seahorses.

If you take a closer look, you yourself will notice the striking resemblance of these small bony fish to a chess piece. And how interestingly the seahorse moves in the water, bends all over and very proudly carries its magnificently built head!

Despite the apparent difficulty, maintaining seahorse, practically the same as keeping any other inhabitants of the aquarium world. But, before purchasing one or several individuals, you should take into account many factors, without which the life of this bright and interesting “sea needle” may not be as long as we would like.

Seahorses: interesting facts

The existence of the seahorse was known a thousand years before our era. IN ancient roman mythology it is said that the god of water streams and the sea, Neptune, every time he went to check his possessions, harnessed to a chariot " sea needle", very similar to a horse. Therefore, for sure, Lord Neptune cannot be huge if he moved on small thirty-centimeter skates. But, seriously, it is very rare in nature today to find spinyfish that reach 30 cm in length. Most “pipits” barely reach twelve centimeters.

In our time, it is already known about the existence of fossilized remains of the ancestors of the seahorse. In the course of a study at the genetic level, scientists revealed the similarity of the seahorse with the needle fish.

What are they like - seahorses

Today, marine aquarists are starting seahorses, which range in length from 12 millimeters to twenty centimeters. However, most of all, aquarists prefer to care for Hippocampus erectus, those. standard seahorses.

Seahorses were specifically named this way because the head, chest, and neck are completely similar to horse parts of the body. At the same time, they differ from fish in a different physique. The horse's head of these individuals is positioned completely differently than that of fish - in relation to the body, it is located at ninety degrees. What else is interesting is these sea fish They have eyes looking in different directions.

And also these little, cute ones sea creatures They swim not horizontally, but vertically and have scales all over their body, strong armor - colorful, iridescent bone plates. The shell of these sea needle-shaped individuals is “steel”, so that it cannot be penetrated.

I would also like to mention the interesting property of a long, twisted tail. sea fish in the shape of a spiral. If seahorses feel that there is a predator nearby, they very quickly run into shelter, algae, which they skillfully cling to with their spiral tail and manage to hide.

This is interesting! Feeling that danger threatens, sea fish - skates cling with the help of their long tails for corals or algae and remain for a long time motionless, hanging upside down.

Despite such a cute appearance, seahorses are classified as predatory fish, as they feed on shrimp and sea crustaceans.

The seahorse has the ability to camouflage itself. They mimic like chameleons, taking on the color of the place they stop at. Basically, these sea fish like to hide where there are more saturated, bright colors to avoid encounters with predators. And with the help of bright colors, the male attracts the attention of the female, which he really liked. To please the female, he can even “put on” her color.

Seahorses, despite their numbers, are considered rare fish, therefore their thirty subspecies are listed in the Red Book. The problem is that from year to year the world’s oceans turn into a universally polluted, garbage “dump”, which is why corals and algae die en masse, and these photosynthetic organisms have vital important for seahorses.

And also, the seahorse itself has long been a valuable animal. The Chinese catch these fish in large numbers because they believe that they cure any disease. In many European countries dead seahorses automatically become raw materials for the manufacture of various souvenir products.

Keeping seahorses at home

Bony seahorses are unusual, bright, funny and very beautiful creatures. Maybe, feeling their beauty and greatness, they become very capricious when they find themselves in captivity. And to make these fish feel good, even experienced aquarists should try very hard. It should be created for them natural environment habitat so that animals feel the same there as in sea water. It is very important to keep track temperature conditions aquariums. Seahorses will feel comfortable in cool water with a temperature of twenty-three to twenty-five degrees Celsius, but no more. During hot periods, be sure to install a split system above the aquarium; you can simply turn on the fan. The hot air can suffocate these little creatures even in warm water.

Before placing purchased skates in an aquarium with regular water, check its quality: it should not contain phosphates or ammonia. The maximum concentration of nitrates in water is allowed at a level of ten ppm. Also, don’t forget to install your favorite seahorse algae and corals in the aquarium. Surface grottoes made of artificial material will also look beautiful.

So, you have taken care of the seahorse house. Taking care of nutrition will also be important for them, because these beautiful inhabitants sea people like to eat a lot of meat and exotic foods often. A seahorse should eat at least four to five times a day, receiving meat from shrimp and crustaceans. To do this, you can buy frozen invertebrate molluscs and crustaceans. Seahorses love Mysis shrimp and will happily eat moths and even daphnia.

All seahorses suffer from limited gas exchange due to low gill efficiency. This is why constant water filtration and oxygen supply is a vital process for seahorses.
Seahorses do not have stomachs, so in order to maintain themselves normally and not lose energy balance, they need a lot of food.
Seahorses do not have scales, which is why they are easily susceptible to any infections, especially bacterial ones. An ecosystem moderator in a confined space should frequently inspect the seahorse's body, which may be damaged.
Seahorses have interesting mouths - proboscis, with the help of which these creatures suck up caught prey with such speed that they can swallow a dozen spineless mollusks at a time.

Reproduction of seahorses

Seahorses are skilled cavaliers! They begin their courtship with a mating dance, which they demonstrate to the female. If everything worked out, the fish touch each other, wrap themselves around each other and look closely. This is how seahorses get to know each other. After numerous “hugs,” the female begins to throw the male into her purse with the help of her genital nipple large army caviar. Transparent seahorse fry are born after 30 days, ranging from twenty to two hundred individuals. The fry are born by males!

This is interesting! In nature, there is a subspecies of male extraordinary seahorses capable of bearing over a thousand fry.

It is noteworthy that the male seahorse has a very difficult time giving birth; after giving birth, within a day, or even two, he rests for a long time at the bottom of the reservoir. And only the male, not the female, takes care of his babies for a long time, who, in case of impending danger, can again hide in their father’s brood pouch.

Seahorse's aquarium neighbors

Seahorses are unpretentious and mysterious animals. They can very easily get along with other fish and invertebrate species. Only small fish, very slow and careful, are suitable for them as neighbors. Fish such as gobies and blennies can become such neighbors for skates. Among the invertebrates, one can highlight the snail, which is an excellent aquarium cleaner and also does not sting corals.

You can also place live stones in aquariums with needlefish, the main thing is that they are completely healthy and do not cause diseases.

Where to buy a seahorse

Any online aquarium and pet store offers live pictures and photographs. different types seahorses that will help you choose the most ideal option.

It is here or in any pet store in your city that you can purchase a seahorse at the best prices. In the future, many pet stores offer significant discounts for their regular customers, ranging from 10% and higher when ordering a batch of seahorses.

The seahorse is a small fish, which is a representative of the Spine family from the order Stickleback. Research has shown that the seahorse is a highly modified pipefish. Today the seahorse is a rather rare creature. In this article you will find a description and photo of a seahorse and learn a lot of new and interesting things about this extraordinary creature.

The seahorse looks very unusual and its body shape resembles chess piece horse The seahorse fish has many long bony spines and various leathery projections on its body. Thanks to this body structure, the seahorse appears unnoticed 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 curled 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 seahorse’s swim bladder 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 increasingly rare and is on the verge of extinction due to a rapid decline in numbers. There are many reasons for the disappearance of the seahorse. The main one is the destruction by humans of both the fish itself and its habitats. Off the coast of Australia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, pipits are being caught en masse. The exotic appearance and bizarre body shape is the reason that people began to make gift souvenirs from them. For beauty, the tail is artificially arched and the body is given the shape of the letter “S”, but in nature skates do not look like that.

Another reason that contributes to the decline in the seahorse population is that they are a delicacy. Gourmets highly value 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. Luckily, seahorses are very fertile and can produce over a thousand young at a time, keeping the seahorses from going extinct. Seahorses are bred in captivity, but this fish is very demanding 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. The seahorse fish lives mainly at shallow depths or near the shore and leads a sedentary lifestyle. The seahorse lives in dense thickets of algae and other marine vegetation. It attaches itself to plant stems or corals with its flexible tail, remaining almost invisible due to its body covered with various projections and spines.

The seahorse fish changes body color to completely blend in with environment. In this way, the seahorse successfully camouflages itself not only from predators, but also while foraging for food. 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, it attaches its tail to the fins various fish and stays on them until the “free taxi” swims into the algae thickets.

What do seahorses eat?

Seahorses eat crustaceans and shrimp. Seahorses eat very interestingly. 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 of a couple of hours.

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

How do seahorses reproduce?

Seahorses reproduce quite in an unusual way, because their fry is carried by the male. Seahorses often have monogamous pairs. Mating season seahorses are an amazing sight. Couple about to conclude marriage, is held together by its tails and dances in the water. During the dance, the skates press against each other, after which the male opens a special pocket in the abdominal area, into which the female throws eggs. Subsequently, the male bears offspring for a month.

Seahorses reproduce quite frequently and produce large offspring. A seahorse gives birth to one thousand or more young at a time. The fry are born an absolute copy of the 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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The very appearance of these fish evokes pleasant associations with childhood, toys and fairy tales.

The horse swims in an upright position and tilts its head so gracefully that, looking at it, it is impossible not to compare it with some small magical horse.

It is covered not with scales, but with bone plates. However, in his shell he is so light and fast that he literally floats in the water, and his body shimmers with all colors - from orange to dove-blue, from lemon yellow to fiery red. In terms of brightness of color, it is worthy to compare this fish with tropical birds.

Seahorses inhabit coastal waters tropical and subtropical seas. But they are also found in the North Sea, for example, off the southern coast of England. They choose quieter places; rapid current I like too.

Among them there are dwarfs the size of a little finger, and there are giants about thirty centimeters. The smallest species, Hippocampus zosterae (dwarf seahorse), is found in the Gulf of Mexico. Its length does not exceed four centimeters, and the body is very hardy.

In Black and Mediterranean seas You can find the long-faced, spotted Hippocampus guttulatus, whose length reaches 12-18 centimeters. The most famous are representatives of the species Hippocampus kuda, which lives off the coast of Indonesia. Seahorses of this species (their length is 14 centimeters) are brightly and variegatedly colored, some with speckles, others with stripes. The largest seahorses are found near Australia.

Whether they are dwarfs or giants, seahorses look alike like brothers: a trusting look, capricious lips and an elongated “horse” muzzle. Their tail is curved towards the belly, and their head is decorated with horns. It is impossible to confuse these graceful and colorful fish, which look like jewelry or toys, with any of their inhabitants. water element.

How does pregnancy proceed in males?

Even now, zoologists find it difficult to say how many species of seahorses there are. Possibly 30-32 species, although this figure is subject to change. The fact is that seahorses are difficult to classify. Their appearance is too changeable. And they know how to hide in such a way that a needle thrown into a haystack would be jealous.

When Amanda Vincent of Montreal's McGill University began studying seahorses in the late 1980s, she was frustrated: "At first I couldn't even notice the little ones." Masters of mimicry, in a moment of danger they change their color, repeating the color of surrounding objects. Therefore, they are easily mistaken for algae. Many seahorses, like gutta-percha dolls, can even change their body shape. They develop small growths and nodules. Some seahorses can be difficult to distinguish from corals.

This plasticity, this “color music” of the body helps them not only fool their enemies, but also seduce their partners. German zoologist Ruediger Verhasselt shares his observations: “I had a pink-red male in my aquarium. I placed a bright yellow female with red speckles next to him. The male began to take care of the new fish and after a few days it turned the same color as it - even red specks appeared.”

To watch enthusiastic pantomimes and colorful confessions, you need to go underwater early in the morning. Only in the pre-dawn twilight (however, sometimes in the sunset hours) seahorses wander in pairs through the underwater thickets of algae, this sea jungle. In their confessions, they follow a funny etiquette: they nod their heads, greeting their friend, while clinging to neighboring plants with their tails. Sometimes they freeze when they come together in a “kiss.” Or they whirl around in a stormy love dance, and the males constantly inflate their bellies.

The date is over - and the fish swim away to the sides. Adju! Until next time! Seahorses usually live in monogamous pairs, loving each other to the death, which they often have in the form of nets. After the death of a partner, his half misses him, but after a few days or weeks he finds a partner again. Seahorses housed in an aquarium are particularly affected by the loss of a partner. And it happens that they die one after another, unable to bear the grief.

What is the secret of such affection? Kindred spirits? Here's how biologists explain it: By regularly walking and petting each other, seahorses synchronize their biological clocks. This helps them choose the most appropriate moment for procreation. Then their meeting drags on for several hours, or even days. They glow with excitement and spin in a dance in which, as we remember, the males inflate their bellies. It turns out that the male has a wide fold on his stomach where the female lays her eggs.

Surprisingly, in seahorses the offspring is carried by the male, having previously fertilized the eggs in the abdominal pouch.

But such behavior is not as exotic as it might seem. There are also other species of fish, for example, cichlids, in which the eggs are hatched by males. But only in seahorses do we deal with a process similar to pregnancy. The tissue on the inside of the male's brood pouch thickens, as in the uterus of mammals. This tissue becomes a kind of placenta; it connects the father's body with the embryos and nourishes them. This process is controlled by the hormone prolactin, which stimulates lactation in humans - the formation of mother's milk.

With the onset of pregnancy, walks in underwater forests stop. The male stays in an area of about one square meter. In order not to compete with him in obtaining food, the female delicately swims to the side.

After a month and a half, “birth” occurs. The seahorse presses against the seaweed stalk and inflates its belly again. Sometimes a whole day passes before the first fry slips out of the bag and into the wild. Then the young will begin to emerge in pairs, faster and faster, and soon the bag will expand so much that dozens of fry will swim out of it at the same time. The number of newborns varies among species: some seahorses hatch up to 1,600 babies, while others give birth to only two fry.

Sometimes the “birth” is so difficult that the males die from exhaustion. In addition, if for some reason the embryos die, then the male who carried them will also die.

Evolution cannot explain the origin of the seahorse's reproductive functions. The whole process of childbearing is too “unorthodox”. Indeed, the structure of the seahorse appears to be a mystery if you try to explain it as a result of evolution. As one leading expert said several years ago: “In terms of evolution, the seahorse is in the same category as the platypus. Because he is a mystery that confuses and destroys all theories trying to explain the origin of this fish! Admit it Divine Creator, and everything is explainable."

What do seahorses do if they're not flirting or expecting offspring? One thing is certain: they do not shine with success in swimming, which is not surprising given their constitution. They have; only three small fins: the dorsal one helps to swim forward, and two gill fins maintain vertical balance and serve as a rudder. In a moment of danger, seahorses can briefly speed up their movement, flapping their fins up to 35 times per second (some scientists even call the number “70”). They are much better at vertical maneuvers. By changing the volume of the swim bladder, these fish move up and down in a spiral.

However, most of the time the seahorse hangs motionless in the water, its tail hooked on algae, coral, or even the neck of a relative. It looks like he's ready to hang around all day. However, despite his apparent laziness, he manages to catch a lot of prey - tiny crustaceans and fry. Only recently was it possible to observe how this happens.

The seahorse does not rush after prey, but waits until it swims to it. Then he draws in water, swallowing the careless small fry. Everything happens so quickly that the naked eye cannot notice it. However, scuba diving enthusiasts say that when approaching a seahorse, you sometimes hear the sound of smacking. The appetite of this fish is amazing: as soon as it is born, the seahorse manages to swallow about four thousand miniature shrimp in the first ten hours of its life.

In total, he is destined to live, if he’s lucky, four to five years. Enough time to leave behind millions of descendants. It seems that with such numbers, seahorses are assured of prosperity. However, it is not. Out of a thousand fry, on average, only two survive. All the rest themselves fall into someone's mouth. However, in this whirlwind of births and deaths, seahorses have been staying afloat for forty million years. Only human intervention can destroy this species.

According to the message World Fund wildlife, the number of seahorses is rapidly declining. Thirty species of these fish are included in the Red Book, that is, almost all species known to science. Ecology is primarily to blame for this. The world's oceans are turning into a global dump. Its inhabitants are degenerating and dying out.

Half a century ago, the Chesapeake Bay was a narrow, long bay off the coast American states Maryland and Virginia (its length reaches 270 kilometers) were considered a real paradise for seahorses. Now you can hardly find them there. Alison Scarratt, director of the National Aquarium in Baltimore, estimates that ninety percent of the bay's algae have died in the past half century, due to water pollution. But there were algae natural environment seahorse habitat.

Another reason for the decline is the massive catching of seahorses off the coasts of Thailand, Malaysia, Australia and the Philippines. According to Amanda Vincent, at least 26 million of these fish are caught every year. A small part of them then end up in aquariums, and the majority die. For example, these cute fish are dried and used to make souvenirs - brooches, key rings, belt buckles. By the way, for the sake of beauty, their tail is bent back, giving the body the shape of the letter S.

However most of Captured seahorses - about twenty million, according to the World Wildlife Fund - end up in the hands of pharmacists in China, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia and Singapore. The largest transshipment point for the sale of this “medical raw material” is Hong Kong. From here they sell it in the thirties extra countries, including India and Australia. Here, a kilogram of seahorses costs about $1,300.

From these dried fish, crushed and mixed with other substances, for example with tree bark, drugs are prepared that are as popular in Japan, Korea, and China as here - aspirin or analgin. They help with asthma, cough, headaches and especially with impotence. IN Lately this Far Eastern “Viagra” has become popular in Europe.

However, even ancient authors knew that medicines could be prepared from seahorses. Thus, Pliny the Elder (24-79) wrote that in case of hair loss, one should use an ointment prepared from a mixture of dried seahorses, marjoram oil, resin and lard. In 1754, the English Gentlemen's Magazine advised nursing mothers to take seahorse extract "for the better flow of milk." Of course, old recipes can make you smile, but it is carried out now World organization health research " healing properties seahorse."

Meanwhile, Amanda Vincent and a number of biologists advocate a complete ban on the uncontrolled harvesting and trade of seahorses, trying to put an end to predatory fishing, as they managed to do with whaling. The situation is that in Asia, seahorses are caught mainly by poachers. To put an end to this, the researcher created the Project Seahorse organization back in 1986, which is trying to protect seahorses in Vietnam, Hong Kong and the Philippines, as well as establish a civilized trade in them. Things are especially successful on the Philippine island of Handayan.

Residents of the local village of Handumon have been harvesting seahorses for centuries. However, in just ten years, from 1985 to 1995, their catches decreased by almost 70 percent. Therefore, the seahorse rescue program proposed by Amanda Vincent was perhaps the only hope for fishermen.

To begin with, it was decided to create a protected area with a total area of thirty-three hectares, where fishing was completely prohibited. There, all the seahorses were counted and even numbered, putting a collar on them. From time to time, divers looked into this water area and checked whether the “lazy couch potatoes”, seahorses, had swum away from here.

It was agreed that males with full brood pouches would not be caught outside the protected area. If they were caught in the net, they were thrown back into the sea. In addition, ecologists tried to replant mangroves and underwater algae forests - the natural shelters of these fish.

In some zoos - in Stuttgart, Berlin, Basel, as well as in the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the California Aquarium, breeding of these fish is successful. Perhaps they can be saved.

In the seas surrounding Russia, only two species of seahorses are found (although species diversity skates and bikes, just in different seas There are 32 species of seahorses in the world). These are the Black Sea seahorse and the Japanese seahorse. The first one lives in Black and Seas of Azov, and the second is in Japanese.

“Our” seahorses are small and do not have luxurious long outgrowths all over their bodies, like, for example, the raghorse that lives in warm seas and masquerading as thickets of Sargassum algae. Their shell modestly performs a protective function: it is very strong and is usually colored to match the background color.

Like the multitude of creatures that fill the seas, skies and land, the seahorse has no link that can connect it with any other form of life. Like all major types of living creatures, the complex seahorse was created suddenly, as the book of Genesis tells us.

IN sea depths there are many unusual and interesting creatures, among which special attention seahorses deserve.

Seahorses, or scientifically called hypocampuses, are small bony fish family of sea pipes. Today there are about 30 species, which differ in size and appearance. “Height” ranges from 2 to 30 centimeters, and the colors come in a wide variety.

Skates do not have scales, but they are protected by a hard bony shell. Only a land crab can bite through and digest such “clothes,” so underwater predators usually don’t find skates interesting, and they hide in such a way that any needle in a haystack would be jealous.

Another one interesting feature skates in the eyes: like a chameleon, they can move independently of each other.

Like a fish in water? No, it's not about them

Unlike other inhabitants of the sea, pipits swim in a vertical position, this is possible due to the presence of a large longitudinal swim bladder. By the way, they are very inept swimmers. The dorsal fin is small and makes fairly fast movements, but this does not impart much speed, and the pectoral fins serve mainly as rudders. Most of the time, the seahorse hangs motionless in the water, catching its tail on a seaweed.

Every day is stressful

Seahorses live in tropical and subtropical seas and prefer clear, calm water. The greatest danger for them is strong rolling, which can sometimes lead to complete exhaustion. Seahorses are generally very susceptible to stress. In an unfamiliar environment, they get along poorly, even if there is enough food; in addition, the cause of death can be the loss of a partner.

There's no such thing as too much food

The seahorse has a primitive digestive system, there are no teeth or stomach, therefore, in order not to die of hunger, the creature has to constantly eat. By their feeding method, skates are predators. When it’s time for a snack (almost always), they cling to the algae with their tails and suck surrounding water, which contains plankton.

Unusual family

Family relationships among skates are also very peculiar. The female always chooses the other half. When she sees a suitable candidate, she invites him to dance. Several times the pair rises to the surface and falls again. the main task male - to be hardy and keep up with his girlfriend. If he slows down, the capricious lady will immediately find another gentleman, but if the test is passed, the couple begins to mate.

Seahorses are monogamous, meaning they choose a partner for life and even sometimes swim with their tails tied together. The offspring is carried by the male and, by the way, these are the only creatures on the planet that experience “male pregnancy.”

The mating dance can last about 8 hours. In the process, the female places the eggs in a special pouch on the male’s belly. This is where miniature seahorses will form over the next 50 days.

From 5 to 1500 cubs will be born, only 1 in 100 will survive to sexual maturity. It seems small, but this figure is actually one of the highest among fish.

Why are seahorses becoming extinct?

Seahorses are small, peace-loving fish that have suffered greatly due to their bright and unusual appearance. People catch them for various purposes: for making gifts, souvenirs, or for preparing expensive exotic dishes that cost about $800 per serving. In Asia, medicines are made from dried seahorses. 30 species out of 32 existing ones are listed in the Red Book.

The very appearance of these fish evokes pleasant associations with childhood, toys and fairy tales. The horse swims in an upright position and tilts its head so gracefully that, looking at it, it is impossible not to compare it with some small magical horse.

It is covered not with scales, but with bone plates. However, in his shell he is so light and fast that he literally floats in the water, and his body shimmers with all colors - from orange to dove-blue, from lemon yellow to fiery red. Judging by the brightness of its colors, this fish can be compared with tropical birds.

Seahorses inhabit the coastal waters of tropical and subtropical seas. But they are also found in the North Sea, for example, off the southern coast of England. They choose quieter places; They don't like the turbulent current.

In the Black and Mediterranean Seas you can find the long-snouted, spotted Hippocampus guttulatus, whose length reaches 12-18 centimeters. The most famous are representatives of the species Hippocampus kuda, which lives off the coast of Indonesia. Seahorses of this species (their length is 14 centimeters) are brightly and variegatedly colored, some with speckles, others with stripes. The largest seahorses are found near Australia.

How does pregnancy proceed in males?

Surprisingly, in seahorses the offspring is carried by the male, having previously fertilized the eggs in the abdominal pouch.

Sometimes the “birth” is so difficult that the males die from exhaustion. In addition, if for some reason the embryos die, then the male who carried them will also die.

Evolution cannot explain the origin of the seahorse's reproductive functions. The whole process of childbearing is too “unorthodox”. Indeed, the structure of the seahorse appears to be a mystery if you try to explain it as a result of evolution. As one leading expert said several years ago: “In terms of evolution, the seahorse is in the same category as the platypus. Because he is a mystery that confuses and destroys all theories trying to explain the origin of this fish! Recognize the Divine Creator, and everything will be explained.”

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the seahorse population is rapidly declining. Thirty species of these fish are included in the Red Book, that is, almost all species known to science. Ecology is primarily to blame for this. The world's oceans are turning into a global dump. Its inhabitants are degenerating and dying out.

Just half a century ago, the Chesapeake Bay - a narrow, long bay off the coast of the US states of Maryland and Virginia (its length reaches 270 kilometers) - was considered a real paradise for seahorses. Now you can hardly find them there. Alison Scarratt, director of the National Aquarium in Baltimore, estimates that ninety percent of the bay's algae have died in the past half century, due to water pollution. But algae was the natural habitat of seahorses.

However, most of the seahorses caught - about twenty million, according to the World Wildlife Fund - end up with pharmacists in China, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia and Singapore. The largest transshipment point for the sale of this “medical raw material” is Hong Kong. From here it is sold to more than thirty countries, including India and Australia. Here, a kilogram of seahorses costs about $1,300.

From these dried fish, crushed and mixed with other substances, for example with tree bark, drugs are prepared that are as popular in Japan, Korea, and China as here - aspirin or analgin. They help with asthma, cough, headaches and especially with impotence. Recently, this Far Eastern “Viagra” has become popular in Europe.

However, even ancient authors knew that medicines could be prepared from seahorses. Thus, Pliny the Elder (24-79) wrote that in case of hair loss, one should use an ointment prepared from a mixture of dried seahorses, marjoram oil, resin and lard. In 1754, the English Gentlemen's Magazine advised nursing mothers to take seahorse extract "for the better flow of milk." Of course, ancient recipes can make you smile, but the World Health Organization is now conducting a study on the “healing properties of the seahorse.”

It was agreed that males with full brood pouches would not be caught outside the protected area. If they were caught in the net, they were thrown back into the sea. In addition, environmentalists tried to replant mangroves and underwater kelp forests - the natural shelters of these fish.

Since then, the number of seahorses and other fish in the vicinity of Handumon has stabilized. Especially many seahorses inhabit the protected area. In turn, in other Philippine villages, having made sure that things have improved for their neighbors, they also follow this example. Three more protected areas have been created in which seahorses are bred.

They are also grown on special farms. However, there are problems here. So, scientists do not yet know what diet is best for seahorses.

In some zoos - in Stuttgart, Berlin, Basel, as well as in the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the California Aquarium, breeding of these fish is successful. Perhaps they can be saved.

In the seas washing Russia, there are only two species of seahorses (although the species diversity of seahorses is great, in total there are 32 species of seahorses in different seas of the world). These are the Black Sea seahorse and the Japanese seahorse. The first lives in the Black and Azov Seas, and the second in the Japanese Sea.

“Our” seahorses are small and do not have luxurious long projections all over their bodies, like, for example, the raghorse, which lives in warm seas and masquerades as thickets of sargassum algae. Their shell modestly performs a protective function: it is very strong and is usually colored to match the background color.

In the seahorse, the Creator's plan is clearly and clearly manifested. But the fossil record poses another problem for those who believe in evolution. To support the idea that the seahorse is the product of evolution over millions of years, proponents of this theory need fossils that show the gradual development of a lower form of animal life into a more complex shape seahorse. But, to the great regret of evolutionists, “no fossilized seahorses have been discovered.”