Marine life and fish expert Jorge. Jorge Gomezjurado once said, "When God created the hippocampus, he probably drank too much." Yes, alcohol must have put God at rest first. You'll hardly see him using eye-catching constructs like seahorses on any other species: a kangaroo-like torso with a pouch, chameleon-like eyes that can be rotated independently, an elongated snout like an anteater, and a monkey-like tail. In addition, on the head of each seahorse, there are unique crown-like corners of different shapes, like human fingerprints. Come and see the book "Crazy Seahorse" and get to know this group of amazing friends.
The seahorse is like a dancer, and the seahorse, like the chanting humpback whales and killer whales, is an artist in the ocean; It is particularly talented in terms of both dance skills and color design. When it comes to seducing the opposite sex, seahorses are even more powerful, and the hot dance they dance when they courtship will melt even a tough guy like a sea lion. At first, the male and female seahorses will politely greet each other, and then the ends of the tails will intertwine with each other, dance close to the body and mutter, sometimes they will stop for a moment and hold their mouths together as if kissing. They will circle each other over and over again and make the body change different colors. Such courtship dances can last up to nine hours, and seahorses dance them every few weeks, compared to humans who are usually married only once (at least for the same object). In addition, scholars who study hippocampal behavior have found that many hippocampuses remain loyal to one partner throughout their lives until death separates them. However, in recent years, studies have shown that this fish is not always the case, but depends on its living conditions, and some seahorses also have a tendency to exchange partners or collectively co-tail.
The male seahorse is responsible for conceiving and giving birth to a child, and it is said that it is still a natural weier steel
In the world of the hippocampus, pregnancy and childbirth are a man's business, looking at the global animal world, this is the real outlier, and how and why this unusual style is formed, scholars and experts everywhere want to crack it. "Male pregnancy" also provides gender researchers with ready-made topics to use as a starting point to explore traditional gender roles in human society. Because the hippocampus is so unique, it has been believed to have miraculous medical effects since ancient times. In the Mediterranean region of the Renaissance, for example, it was considered not only a cure for vision problems and flank pain, but also as a prescription for rabies or lack of libido. Until the eighteenth century, drugs containing hippocampal ingredients were still common medicines in many families in Europe, not only to improve fatigue and hair loss, but also to treat sexual dysfunction.
In Asia, the hippocampus is still a common prescription for doctors. Traditional Chinese medicine, for example, has a classic recipe for almost curing every ailment, with mashed dried seahorses mixed with honey, ginseng and red olives. However, the most admired thing about the seahorse in traditional Chinese medicine is its natural and steely effect, which has also made it successfully attract some Westerners.
Strange looking Seahorse is not a "horse" but a "fish"
Every child knows that the lion is regarded as the "king of all beasts", but it does not even have a "crown", but in comparison, it is a much weaker seahorse, with (almost) one on each head. In fact, the structure of the body alone is enough to make a creature like the seahorse ascend to the throne of wonder: a kangaroo-like brooding body, chamele-like eyes that can be independently rotated, a long straw-shaped snout, a tail with strong climbing power, and of course, the majestic crown. Where did nature get its inspiration to have such a casual mix of styles?
It may be difficult to ignore the similarities in appearance between seahorses and horses on land, but what they have in common is only the head. The body of the hippocampus looks fragile, and the end of the tail resembles a worm. And its hooves? Not at all! This guy looks more like a combination of some of the most divergent animals, which may have inspired humans to create the famous horse-headed fishtail sea monster of ancient Greco-Roman mythology.
Biologists classify the hippocampus as a fish, even though it has no tail fin, no ventral fin, not even scales, and has hard bone plates on its body, as well as a snout reminiscent of a straw. So, where exactly does this animal resemble a fish? In fact, if you look closely, there are many similar parts, for example, it breathes in gills, there are swim bladders, and there are also a few fins. Although these fins, which have the function of driving, handling and stabilizing, are very small on its body. The swim bladder allows it to balance the weight of a bone armor, as well as inhale, exhale, and thereby regulate buoyancy, which is typical of most fish. The other internal organs of the hippocampus are also largely similar to those of other finned animals, whether they are hearts, livers or kidneys.
The seahorse's tail is long and soft enough to hook up with others to rest itself
In general, the funny and eccentric parts of the seahorse have functional significance, and they are also related to its optimal adaptation to the environment and lifestyle. The most convincing example is the tail that tapers towards the end and is extremely flexible, replacing the tail fin that most fish have. In general, the tail fin that swings to the sides causes the fish to generate propulsion when swimming; However, rather than pushing forward, the hippocampus prefers to use the back half of its body to "hook up and hang around"—which is literally what it means here. Their tails are not only long, but also very soft, so these "horses" in the sea can actually do it if they really want to scratch their heads to relieve itching or use it as a scarf to warm themselves. However, this area has other important tasks, and the hippocampus will use it to attach itself to finger-like coral branches or seagrass stalks, because only in this way will it not be completely helpless in the face of undulating waves or strong currents (after all, its fins are extremely small), and it will also allow it to regain its strength after swimming until it is exhausted.
Swim faster than a snail Dodging predators relies entirely on camouflage
Because the seahorse swims too slowly and quickly loses its breath, it basically has little in common with other marine animals in terms of swimming. However, it is standing upright in the water, and its behavior is naturally completely different from that of fish with streamlined bodies. The slowest fish in the world is indeed one of the members of this family: a small seahorse that lives in the waters of Florida, Texas, Mexico and the Bahamas, and even if it is full of fire, it can only travel at 0.054 kilometers per hour. In contrast, even the slow-moving Roman snail on land was advancing twice as fast as it could.
However, the hippocampus did not need to urge itself at all. It focuses on sophisticated camouflage, which is to avoid curious or alert sight before raiding prey from an ambush. Many seahorses can adjust the color of the body surface according to the background environment, and in terms of acting, it is also quite talented, for example, it can simulate the bright orange color of a soft coral and the texture of its surface tissue, or pretend to be a yellow leaf of a mangrove plant floating in the water.
In addition, there are several seahorses with very special strips of skin that are reminiscent of the leaves of some aquatic plants, so it is almost impossible to find its presence in an intertwined seaweed. In addition, even if the seahorse's mini fins can't make it swim fast and far, this delicate and tiny organ plays an important role, making the seahorse more agile and maneuverable, allowing it to flexibly travel through coral reefs or jungles of aquatic plants.
Seahorses who are good at camouflage, can you find them (where) they are?
Short lifespan of the hippocampus Low survival Rate As soon as you are born, you face a life-and-death battle
In the world of seahorses, there are no only children or only daughters. They usually hatch a hundred to five hundred baby seahorses per litter, and several seahorses can even give birth to as many as two thousand. However, due to the many dangers and threats that young hippocamps have to face, such a high birth rate is also very necessary, especially for those newborn young seahorses that are only the size of fleas, and must immediately fight for their lives on their own. They do not receive the slightest care from their parents, and if they are not careful, they become hungry predators or victims of strong winds and waves. On average, only one in two hundred young seahorses has a chance of surviving to adulthood, as the young seahorses are completely inexperienced in life and are the food of countless zooplankton-eating diners.
The newborn young seahorse, in addition to being slender, looks like its parents overall. The first heroic deed these little guys had to accomplish was to "race upstream," and they had to try to float to the surface of the water. This is not done for breathing, as many people in the early days thought, but to inflate their swim bladder, because this organ allows it to float effortlessly in the water. Once the task of injecting the right amount of air into the maw is completed, the baby seahorse can immediately start hunting. However, this first voyage lurks in danger, because if you are not careful, the little seahorse will be trapped by the surface tension of the water and cannot sink into the water again; Sometimes, because the swim bladder accumulates too much air, it can only float on the surface of the water with its back to the ground until it dies.