Seahorses

Children are facinated by seahorses. Seahorses are a genus of fish with some very unique characteristics. Unlike most other fish, they are monogamous and mate for life. Rarer still, they are among the only animal species on Earth in which the male bears the unborn young.

Here are some more interesting seahorse facts:

• They range in size from 0.6 to 14 inches long.


• There are 35 species of seahorses world-wide, and they live in every ocean excpet the polar.


• Seahorses have no teeth and no stomach. Food passes through their digestive systems so quickly, they must eat almost constantly to stay alive.


• The seahorse has a long snout for sucking in food and a long tail which the seahorse uses both for moving through the water and also for curling around things in order to anchor itself down.

There are many seahorse resources for your classroom. Please note, it is very difficult to keep live seahorses, so make sure you know exactly what you are doing before you try it in your classrroom.

http://a-z-animals.com/animals/seahorse/ Great information page about seahorses with good photographs.

http://a-z-animals.com/animals/sea-dragon/ Sea Dragons are closely related to seahorses. There are only 2 species, both live off Australia.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/sea-horse/ National Geographic seahorse page for children.

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/efc/efc_seahorse/seahorse_multimedia.aspx Seahorse video clips, photographs, and information.

Seahorses: Mysteries of the Oceans by Catherine Wallis, 2005

Seahorses by Twig C. George, 2003

Seahorses by Sylvia M. James, 2002