Seahorses come in various colors and sizes, with over 25 species found worldwide. They have a horse-like head and curled tail, and camouflage using coloration and appendages. Seahorses cling to seaweed and coral with their tails and cannot swim freely. They eat small shrimp, fish, and plankton. Though found in tropical oceans, seahorses are endangered by loss of habitat and hunting for medicine and souvenirs. The largest is the big belly seahorse, while the zebra seahorse is the smallest.

1. The Wonderful
Seahorse
Kingdom
By Grace Buxton

2. Seahorses are tiny fish. They are named after
the shape of their head that sort of looks like a
head of a tiny horse. There are at least 25
species of seahorses in the world, such as the
large belly seahorse and the spiny sea dragon.
You will find them in the worlds tropical and
temperate coastal waters.

3. APPEARANCE
Seahorses can come in all different colours. They
can change colour to blend in with their habitat.
Some are bright colour to blend in with coral,
but some are brownish colour to blend in with
rocks. For example the leafy sea dragons
appendages help them to camouflage in
floating seaweed.

4. Seahorses cannot curl their tail back. So their tail
mostly has to stay in the same position their
whole life. When there are storms, seahorses
cling to pieces of seaweed with their tails. The
storms toss them off and washes them ashore,
so they cannot get back to the sea until the tide
comes in.

5. Tiny, spiny plates cover seahorses bodies from
the tip of their head down to their curly tails.
Seahorses have these instead of scales.
When seahorses are babies, they are only about
5 centimetres long but they can grow up to 36
cm long.

6. DIET
Seahorses eat tiny organisms such as small
shrimp, as well as very small fish and plankton.
Sometimes they eat small fish larvae, or
anything small enough for them to swallow.
Seahorses eat sucking through their tube-like
snout.

7. Habitat
Seahorses are found in tropical and subtropical
costal and reef waters all over the Pacific,
Atlantic and Indian oceans. Seahorses are also
found in mangrove roots, sea grass beds, mud
slopes, open waters, eel grass, kelp and rocks.
The large belly seahorse is the only seahorse
found in New Zealand.

8. PREDATORS
There are lots of animals in the wild that the
seahorse has to be careful of. Sharks and squid
are the main predators of seahorses. Tuna, rays
and crabs are also predators of the seahorse.
People hunt seahorses for medicine, cooking
and souvenirs.

9. Seahorses are magnificent creatures a part of
the sea. These unique little animals are
endangered, and they need help. Thanks to
marine reserves some species will not become
history, but that is only some species.

10. Graph showing seahorse size
Seahorses size
35
30
25
Length in Centimeters
20
15
10
5
0
Big belly Seahorse Giraffe Seahorse Speckled Zebra Seahorse Great Seahorse Thorny Seahorse
Seahorse
Species of Seahorses
The big belly seahorse is the biggest seahorse. The zebra seahorse is the
smallest seahorse. And the thorny seahorse and the speckled seahorse are
the same length.