Seepferdchen (Hippocampus spec.)

Of fish and horses

Seahorses are actually fish, even if they don't look like them. Their fins are greatly reduced and their delicate body is protected by edged rings. Seahorses can wrap their long tail around plants to hold on to them. In this way, they are often driven out far to sea.

Among seahorses it is the male that brings the young into he world. They have a brood pouch in the lower abdomen, in which eggs are kept until their hatching. The female transfers the eggs to the male and after about 28 days the small seahorses hatch. When hatching, the male pushes the young animals from the brood pouch at intervals. With one push about 15 to 20 young come into the world. They are independently viable from the first second.

Feeding seahorse young is very demanding, as only very small food fits into the tiny mouths. To create the best conditions for a healthy life, the Opossum shrimp (mysida), with which the seahorses are fed, are fed extra in advance and are placed in a vitamin solution.

Seahorses live in tropical and temperate waters. Therefore, these small fish can be seen in the MEERESMUSEUM and in the small pool at the OZEANEUM. The seahorse shown are from an aquarium breeding programme, as these animals are protected in nature by strict species protection provisions.