SUCKING SLURPING SEAHORSES

Seahorse feeding time with Georgie & Tess....

Seahorses are named for their equine profile. Although they are bony fish, they do not have scales, but rather a thin skin stretched over a series of bony plates arranged in rings throughout their body. Each species has a distinct number of rings.

Seahorses are ambush predators, feeding primarily on crustaceans, mostly shrimp. At the MDC the seahorses are fed a variety of foods: live amphiods, plankton but mostly brine shrimp.

 

Brine shrimp (aka sea monkey's)

hard to see in an aerated tank 

Tap tap tap, this is how we get the
cheeky little shrimp out of the net



They swim very poorly by using a dorsal fin, which they rapidly flutter and pectoral fins, located behind their eyes, which they use to steer. Seahorses have no caudal fin. Since they are poor swimmers, they are most likely to be found resting, with their prehensile tails wound around a stationary object.

 

One sweet seahorse waiting patiently
for its food. Clinging to the seaweed
with its prehensile tail - a tail adapted
to grasp and/or hold objects.

They have long straw like snouts, which they use to suck up food, and eyes that can move independently of each other, much like a chameleon.

 

Slurping up a little shrimp like
we would slurp up a tasty milkshake

Georgie & Tess love seahorses xx