How many years has a seahorse existed on earth. Sea Horses. Every day is stress

The pygmy seahorse is one of about fifty species of the genus seahorses, which is a small bony fish from the family sea ​​games(a detachment of needle-shaped).

Appearance of a pygmy seahorse

Like other seahorses, dwarf relatives are similar in shape to a chess horse figure.

Many tape-like leathery outgrowths and long spikes that are located on its body make the pygmy seahorse extremely invisible in the algae.

Among the marine vegetation, he, as a rule, lives, being practically inaccessible to predators. And if the size of certain types of seahorses can reach thirty centimeters, the pygmy seahorse does not exceed four centimeters in length.

Its body is not covered with scales, like most fish, but with bony plates. However, despite the fact that his carapace is quite heavy, he moves quite easily, although not too fast. In appearance, the word floats in the water, shimmering with different colors from bluish-blue to orange, from fiery red to lemon yellow, from brown to black. Given the brightness of the colors, the seahorse can rightfully be called a parrot. sea ​​depths.

Habitat of the pygmy seahorse

All seahorses prefer tropical and subtropical waters, and the pygmy seahorse is no exception here, and lives in warm waters Gulf of Mexico. Prefers to choose calm places, avoiding turbulent currents. The lifestyle of a seahorse is characterized by low mobility.

Usually they, using their flexible tail, attach themselves to the stems of algae and, changing the color of the body, completely merge with environment. With this camouflage method, the pygmy seahorse hunts for food and hides from enemies. As food, the pygmy seahorse uses mainly small crustaceans. Having tubular shape The stigma acts like a pump, pulling prey along with water.

Contrary to popular belief that the body shape of a seahorse resembles an "S" shape, this is not true. This shape is artificially given to seahorses by manufacturers of seahorse souvenirs. In fact, the hook of the seahorse's tail is bent towards the stomach. It should be noted that the closest relatives of seahorses (needlefish and stickleback) look completely ordinary.

The anatomical structure of the seahorse

The body of a pygmy seahorse is arranged in a vertical view. The reason for this is the specific structure of the swim bladder, which is located along the body along almost its entire length and is divided by a septum that separates the head of the swim bladder from the rest of the body. And because the cephalic swim bladder is larger than the ventral one, this provides the pygmy seahorse with an upright swimming position.

Origin of the pygmy seahorse

Studies show that the pygmy seahorse is a highly modified needlefish. Unfortunately, no fossilized remains of the pygmy seahorse have been found. However, the lack of fossil remains is a common problem for all seahorses, the oldest specimens of which have been found in small numbers in Slovenia, and whose age is estimated at thirteen million years.

Reproduction of pygmy seahorses

The reproduction of pygmy seahorses differs from the reproduction of other animals. When it comes mating season, the male swims up to the female and both skates are pressed against each other. The male at this time opens his pocket wide, and the female throws in a few eggs. The male is engaged in bearing offspring.

Pygmy seahorses are fertile enough to be expected to carry up to a hundred embryos in a male's pouch. Pygmy seahorses are guided by ebb and flow, due to the fact that fry can be carried away by a strong sea current. During the breeding season, pygmy seahorse fry hatch every four weeks. They are given to themselves immediately after birth. The lifespan of these seahorses is about four years.

Behavior of the pygmy seahorse

Pygmy seahorses swim very slowly. However, despite this, they are successful hunters. Almost every pygmy seahorse hunt is successful. And despite the extremely low speed movement, the pygmy seahorse is able to grab prey floating several times faster.

The favorite dish of the pygmy seahorse is crustaceans. However, these crustaceans are able to swim away at great speed, as soon as they feel the excitement of the water near them. It should be noted that their speed corresponds to five hundred lengths of their body every second. If a person were able to move at such a speed, he would develop a speed of 3200 km / h in water. And only seahorses are able to deceive the ultra-fast copepods. Hunting for them ends for the seahorse with success in 90% of cases.

Holographic observations of pygmy seahorses have shown that the pygmy seahorse's head has a special shape that allows it to keep waves to a minimum during mouth opening.

The pygmy seahorse, attacking its prey, tilts its head at the same angle as its prey. As a result, the waves do not have time to reach the crustacean and it does not have time to swim away.

Observations have also shown that in other inhabitants of the deep sea, which are distinguished by a more blunt head shape, hunting for copepods is far from being so successful.

Apparently, it was precisely the attempts to keep up with the nimble and fast copepods that became the reason that in the process of evolution the head of the seahorse acquired characteristic shape. It was this anatomical property that made seahorses perhaps the most successful hunters in the ocean.

The method of feeding the pygmy seahorse among scientists is called "rotary feeding", in which the animal quickly rotates its head in an upward direction, drags the prey and then, from a distance of one millimeter, suck it in with its mouth.

All this takes a pygmy seahorse less than one millisecond. In most cases, a copepod can swim to a safe distance in two or three milliseconds, which makes them faster than the bulk of predators, but not faster than a seahorse.

Decline in pygmy seahorse numbers

Sea Horses in general, they are currently on the verge of extinction, and their population is declining at a rapid pace.

Almost all known to science species of seahorses are already listed in the Red Book. There are many reasons for this sad state of affairs, but more large species seahorses suffer, among other things, due to the mass capture of these fish in the waters of the Philippines, Australia, Malaysia and Thailand.

The seahorse is an unusual animal resembling a small magic horse ranging in size from 1.5 to 30 centimeters. It has family ties with needle fish. An inhabitant of salty tropical waters is also found off the coast of Eastern Canada and Great Britain. Some species exist in fresh waters. The sea dweller is of constant interest to children and adults.

Appearance

Sea Horse - Interesting Facts for children about appearance. The movement involves a small fin on the back, oscillating up to 35 times per second. Rowing two gill fins maintains vertical balance. They are weak swimmers, separate dwarf species moving at a speed of one and a half meters per hour. Spiraling up and down provides a change in the volume of the swim bladder.

They are able to change color depending on the surrounding plants, therefore they are invisible in aquatic environment. The body is covered with bony armor instead of scales. Like tropical birds, they have a rich color palette with stripes and specks. They are difficult to distinguish from corals.

Observation is carried out by a pair of eyes that can look in opposite directions.

Beautiful representatives of fish breathe with the help of gills, have a swim bladder located throughout the body, which makes it possible to vertically position themselves in the water.

A peculiar tail helps to attach to the fins and make long journeys “on horseback” on other fish.

Behavior

Interesting Seahorse Facts - Behavior. Due to the features digestive system they need constant nutrition, which enters the body with water. Food is not only plankton, crustaceans, shrimps, larvae, but also small fish. There are no teeth and stomach, absorption occurs through the proboscis. They do not chase prey, but patiently wait for it to sail by itself, so for comfortable life need a little flow.

Life expectancy is limited to 4-5 years, but they manage to leave a million offspring.

They don't do well in aquariums. The reason is an unusual environment, susceptibility to stress. They need a lot of small living creatures for food: more than 3 thousand crustaceans and shrimps per day. Without food, they quickly die from exhaustion.

The female transfers the eggs from her body to a special bag to the male. Thus, males carry offspring for 1.5 months. This is one of the few species when dad is worn with a child. The number of fry ranges from 1600 to 2, depending on the species. Born cubs immediately go on an independent journey.

The main enemies of the skate are crabs, penguins, rays and other hungry predators. Almost the entire body is made up of bones, scales, and spines. Few want to feast on such prey.

Red Book

For several years, the unique fish has been a symbol sea ​​power Northern Fleet. It was displayed on the coat of arms of Zaozersk, a city in Murmansk region. Then the image of the skate was replaced with a dolphin.

In the coastal waters of Russia, there are 2 species of fish that live in the Black, Azov and Japanese Seas.

The Red Book lists 30 species of animals out of 32. Their habitats are still being polluted, and numerous jellyfish destroy their nutrient plankton. The reason for the mass capture is a beautiful appearance.

One out of a hundred fry is able to grow to maturity. The causes of extinction are related to economic activity of people. Fish are caught by the Chinese, Filipinos, Indonesians for pseudo-medical purposes (of course, these creatures cannot cure anyone) and making souvenirs from dried exhibits.

Seahorse liver and eyes are considered a healthy delicacy and are served in expensive restaurants. Fried skates on sticks offer Chinese cuisine.

The breeding of these creatures is successfully carried out in the zoos of Berlin, Stuttgart, Basel, in the California and the National Aquarium of Baltimore.

Don't crucian, don't perch,
Has a long neck
Who is he? Guess soon!
Well, of course, horse!

Seahorse (from lat. Hippocampus) a small cute sea fish unusual shape from the genus of bony fish (family sea ​​needles) of the needle-shaped detachment. Looking at this fish, the chess piece of a horse immediately comes to mind. Long neck – distinguishing feature skate. If you disassemble the horse into parts of the body, then its head resembles a horse's, the tail is a monkey, the eyes are from a chameleon, and the outer integuments resemble those of insects. The unusual structure of the tail allows the skate to cling to seaweed and corals and hide in them, sensing danger. The ability to mimic (camouflage) makes the seahorse almost invulnerable. The seahorse feeds on plankton. Young skates are quite voracious and can eat for 10 hours in a row, eating up to three thousand crustaceans and shrimps. Vertical arrangement seahorse relative to water is its distinguishing feature.

Interestingly, the seahorse - caring father and faithful husband. The heavy burden of motherhood falls on the shoulders of the male. The seahorse independently bears the cub in a special bag, which is located in the lower part of the abdomen of the seahorse. It is there that during mating games the female introduces caviar. If the female dies, the male for a long time remains faithful to the partner and vice versa, if the male dies, the female remains faithful to the male for up to 4 weeks.

Dimensions

The size of a seahorse varies from two to three centimeters to 30. Thirty centimeters is the size of a giant seahorse. The average size is 10 or 12 centimeters. The smallest representatives - pygmy seahorses have about 13 or even 3 millimeters. With a size of 13 centimeters, the weight of a seahorse is about 10 grams.

A few more photos with seahorses.

David Juhash

Not many creations of the Creator look at the same time as implausible and beautiful as. This fish swims slowly in an upright position, curling its tail forward to capture algae while its watchful eyes help it search for food and avoid danger.

Sea Horses are among the popular pets that are kept in aquariums. If an aquarium with these fish is installed in any public place, they immediately attract the attention of visitors. People flock to watch these exquisite fish soaring in the aquarium. Sometimes seahorses meet and connect with their tails. Then, just as elegantly, they unwind their tails and calmly disperse in different directions.

Seahorses tend to live along the shore, among seaweed and other plants. They have only one mating partner. The distance they travel does not exceed a few meters. The body length of a seahorse ranges from 4 to 30 cm, and it continues to grow throughout the three years of its life.

Evolution cannot explain the origin of the seahorse's reproductive functions. The whole childbearing process is too "unorthodox."

There are different types of seahorses: dwarf (Atlantic species, smaller than other species), brown, living in Europe, large brown or blackish, living in pacific ocean, and medium (in size), living in the waters of Australia.

Unique creation

Sea Horse- such a unique being that it is indeed very difficult to accept (as evolutionists want it to be) that he is the product of undirected evolutionary forces. Examine the seahorse closely, and you will see that all the features of its design testify to the miracle of creation by God the Creator.

From above, the body of the seahorse is covered with a bony shell that protects it from dangers. This shell is so hard that you can't crush a dry, dead horse with your hands. Its strong skeleton makes the seahorse unattractive to predators, so this fish is usually left untouched.

The female seahorse is completely immersed in this protective shell. The body of the male is also enclosed in it, with the exception of the lower part of the body. The carapace is often covered with numerous bone rings.

The uniqueness of the seahorse among fish lies in the fact that its head is located at right angles to the body. When swimming, her body remains upright. The seahorse's head can move up or down, but cannot turn sideways. The inability to move the head in different directions in other creatures would probably cause problems, but the Creator in His wisdom designed the seahorse in such a way that its eyes move and rotate independently of each other, while simultaneously observing what is happening in different directions from it.

Uses fins to swim vertically. It dives and rises, changing the volume of gas inside its swim bladder. If the swim bladder is damaged and even a small amount of gas is lost, then the seahorse sinks to the bottom and lies helplessly until death.

If it is a product of evolution, then we must ask the question: how did this creature manage to survive while its swim bladder evolved? The very idea of ​​the gradual evolution of the complex swim bladder of a seahorse through trial and error is simply unimaginable. Undoubtedly, it is more reasonable to believe that this being was created by the Great Creator.

Male gives birth to babies!

Perhaps the most incredible (if not strange) feature of the seahorse is that the male gives birth to the young. About it unusual phenomenon scientists became aware only in the last century.

At the very base of the abdomen of the male seahorse (where there is no protective shell) there is a large leathery pocket and a slit-like opening. And when the female lays her eggs right in this pocket, the male fertilizes them.

The female lays eggs in the pocket until it is completely full (it can contain more than 600 eggs). The inner lining of the pocket becomes like a sponge, filled with blood vessels that play a role in nourishing the eggs. This is an unusual feature of the male seahorse! When the laying of eggs is completed, the future father sails away with his inflated pocket, being a kind of living stroller for the cubs.

After one or two months, the male gives birth to tiny babies - an exact copy of adults. A miniature addition to the family is squeezed out through the hole until the bag is completely empty. Sometimes the male experiences very strong labor pains in order to push the last cub out. The birth of cute babies is an amazing sight, but for a male, the process of childbirth is very exhausting. Seahorses born are not called "sea stallions", but simply "babies".

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

Problems in the theory of evolution related to fossils

IN seahorse the intention of the Creator is clearly and clearly manifested. But the fossil record presents another problem for those who believe in evolution. To defend the idea that sea ​​horse is the product of evolution over millions of years, proponents of this theory need fossils showing the gradual development of a lower form of animal life into the more complex form of a seahorse. But, much to the dismay of evolutionists, “no fossilized seahorses have been discovered”.

As with many creatures that fill the seas, skies and land, there is no link for the seahorse 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.

Seahorses have always amazed people with their unusual appearance. These amazing fish are one of the most ancient inhabitants of the seas and oceans. The first representatives of this species of fish appeared about forty million years ago. They got their name because of the similarity with the horse chess piece.

The structure of seahorses

The fish are small. Most major representative of this species has a body length of 30 centimeters and is considered a giant. Most seahorses have modest sizes 10-12 centimeters.

There are also quite miniature representatives of this species - dwarf fish. Their dimensions are only 13 millimeters. There are individuals smaller than 3 millimeters in size.

As mentioned above, the name of these fish is determined by their appearance. In general, it is not easy to understand that in front of you is a fish, and not an animal, at first glance, because a seahorse bears little resemblance to other inhabitants of the sea.

If in the vast majority of fish the main parts of the body are placed in a straight line located in a horizontal plane, then in seahorses the opposite is true. They have major body parts located in a vertical plane, and the head is completely at right angles to the body.

To date, scientists have described 32 species of these fish. All skates prefer to live in shallow water in warm seas. Since these fish are quite slow-moving, they most of all appreciate coral reefs and coastal bottom, overgrown with algae, because there you can hide from enemies.

Seahorses swim very unusually. Their body is kept vertically in the water during movement. This position is provided by two swim bladders. The first is located along the entire body, and the second in the head area.

Moreover, the second bladder is much lighter than the abdominal one, which provides the fish with vertical position in the water when moving. In the water column, the fish move due to the wave-like movements of the dorsal and pectoral fins. The oscillation frequency of the fins is seventy beats per minute.

Seahorses differ from most fish in that they do not have scales. Their body cover the bone plates, united in belts. Such protection is quite heavy, but this weight does not in the least prevent the fish from floating freely in the water.

In addition, bone plates covered with spines serve as good protection. Their strength is so great that it is very difficult for a person to break even the dried shell of a skate with his hands.

Despite the fact that the head of the seahorse is located at an angle of 90⁰ to the body, the fish can only move it in a vertical plane. In the horizontal plane, head movements are impossible. However, this does not create problems with the review.

The fact is that in this fish the eyes are not connected to each other. The horse can look with his eyes in different directions at the same time, so he is always aware of changes in the environment.

The tail of a seahorse is very unusual. He twisted and very flexible. With its help, fish cling to corals and algae when hiding.

At first glance, it seems that seahorses were not supposed to survive in harsh sea conditions: they slow and defenseless. In fact, the fish flourished until a certain time. In this they were helped by the ability to mimicry.

Evolutionary processes have led to the fact that seahorses are easily merge with the surrounding area. At the same time, they can change the color of their body both completely and partially. This is quite enough to marine predators could not notice the skates if they hid.

By the way, these marine inhabitants use the ability to change the color of their body in mating games. With the help of "color music" of the body, males attract females.

Most people believe that these fish feed on vegetation. This is an erroneous opinion. Actually these sea ​​fish, for all their seeming harmlessness and inactivity, are notorious predators. The basis of their diet is plankton. Artemia shrimp and shrimp is their favorite treat.

If you carefully consider the elongated snout of the skate, you can see that it ends with a mouth that acts like a pipette. As soon as the fish notices the prey, it turns its mouth towards it and puffs out its cheeks. In fact, the fish sucks its prey.

It is worth noting that these sea ​​fish pretty voracious. They can hunt for 10 hours straight. During this time they destroy up to 3500 crustaceans. And this is with a stigma length of no more than 1 millimeter.

Skate breeding

Seahorses are monogamous. If a couple is formed, it will not break up until the death of one of the partners, which is not uncommon in the living world. What's really amazing is that birth of offspring by males and not females.

It happens in the following way. During love games the female, using a special papilla, introduces eggs into the hatching bag of the male. This is where fertilization takes place. Then, males carry offspring for 20, and sometimes 40 days.

After this period, already grown fry are born. The offspring are very similar to their parents, but the body of the fry transparent and colorless.

It is noteworthy that males continue to take care of the offspring for some time after birth, which, however, very quickly becomes independent.

Keeping seahorses in an aquarium

You should know that these fish cannot be kept in a regular aquarium. Skates need to be created special conditions for survival:

Do not forget that these fish are quite dirty, so the water in the aquarium must be well filtered..

As you remember, skates in nature like to hide from predators in algae and coral reefs. So, you need to create similar conditions for them in the aquarium. You can use the following elements for this:

• artificial corals.
• Seaweed.
• Artificial grottoes.
• Various stones.

An important requirement is that all elements should not have sharp edges that can damage the skates.

Feeding Requirements

Since in nature these fish feed on crustaceans and shrimp, you will have to buy frozen Mysis shrimp for your pets. Feed the skates in the aquarium should be at least twice a day. Once a week, you can pamper them with live food:

• krill;
• brine shrimp;
• live shrimp.

Seahorses cannot compete for food with aggressive fish. Therefore, the choice of comrades for them is limited. Mainly snails different types : astrea, turbo, nerite, troshus, etc. You can also add a blue hermit crab to them.

In conclusion, we will give one piece of advice: get all the information you have about these marine life before starting your first pack.