Sea Horses and Stuff

What kind of an animal is this?
It's a fish.
Is it really a fish? It's very strange looking.            A

Sea horse are from the 'Hippocampus' family of fishes.

What other fish are the sea horses related to?

Sea horses are closely related to weed fish, pipefish and sea dragons.

B

What kind of habitat do they live in?

Sea horses like coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove.

Are they native to Florida?

Yes, four species are native to Florida.

Why's it called a sea horse?

Because it looks like a horse.

What's the diet of one?

Sea horses like shrimp, tiny fish and plankton.

C

Sea horses are monogamous. What's monogamous mean?

It means they have only one partner.

Are they good at swimming?

Actually, they are very poor swimmers.

Sea horses have strange behavior.

What do you mean strange behavior?

The males not the females will raise the babies.

I see. Is there anything else they do?

They can also change color.

D

What's special about this sea horse?
It's used in medicine.
For what purpose?
The sea horse powder is used to decrease blood sugar.
Is high blood sugar a problem?
Yes it is. It's called 'diabetes'. Have you ever heard of it?
Yes, I have.
Who uses the sea horse for medicine?
The Chinese do.
Tomorrow, I will show you a picture of a sea dragon.
Sea dragon? And sea horses? What's going on here?
What's next? Sea people?

*The sea horse is used in traditional Chinese medicine, and
as many as 20 million are caught each year and sold for medicine.
In addition to the Chinese, Indonesians, Central Filipinos,
 many other groups use sea horses.

Did you have a good day yesterday?
Have a nice day today!!!