Seahorses in HK
Victoria Harbour's murky waters are home to more than one-tenth of the world's seahorse species. Here are some facts about these amazing yet vulnerable creatures.
Amazing biology
With their curly tails, equine heads and S-shape bodies, seahorses are oddballs of the marine world. They're members of the bony fish group and relatives of the pipefish.
They don't have scales like fish, but they, too, breathe with gills and use a swim bladder to regulate buoyancy. Their skeleton is made up of bony plates and fused jaws. Seahorses have no teeth and stomach. They digest food so fast they need to eat almost constantly. They feed on about 3,000 brine shrimp, plankton and microscopic marine life every day.
But what really sets them apart in the animal kingdom is this: it's the males that become pregnant. Male seahorses are born with pouches like a kangaroo's for hatching eggs. They can become pregnant again days after releasing a brood of about 250 babies. During mating, seahorses dance, change their colour and lock tails for a short swim.