Spectacular Seahorse
By Jake Agranovich
Introduction
Did you know that the world’s slowest animal is the dwarf seahorse at 5 feet
per hour? Seahorses are spectacular sea creatures in many ways such as their body structure, movement, and diet. These unique fish are fascinating in so many ways.
Body Structure
The body structure of seahorses are different from any other fish or animal that lives in the sea. Seahorses are generally small, light animals and the size of a full grown seahorse can range anywhere from 0.6 to 14 inches. These tiny fish can weigh from 7 ounces to 1 pound. For comparison the American penny weighs about 0.08 ounces. Unlike other fish seahorses have long and flexible necks and also seahorses have eyes that move independently so that they can look in different directions. In addition to that the tail of seahorse can wrap around different objects so that they don’t float away with the current. Seahorses have camouflaging abilities which means they don’t have any specific colors. The seahorse changes color very rapidly depending on what is around them. The body structure of these complex creatures is certainly something to behold.
Movement
Seahorses are certainly not known for their amazing swimming abilities, but there is a lot to be known about how these extraordinary organisms get around. Seahorses are very poor swimmers, quickly fluttering a dorsal fin and using on the sides of their heads called pectoral fins to steer. The dorsal fin of the seahorse beats around 70 times per second! In order to move up and down, like any other fish the seahorse adjusts the amount of air in their swim bladders, which is a pocket of air in their bodies that all fish have to help them float. Seahorses prefer to swim in pairs with linked tails. So all though these magnificent sea dwelling sea creatures aren’t the most skilled swimmers there is definitely a lot to know about how seahorses get around.
Diet
Despite the huge amount of food that seahorses eat daily it is still a surprisingly small animal. Picture this: a seahorse catching one of the world's smallest creatures that can move 500 body lengths per second with no problem, that's the equivalent to a 6ft person swimming at 2,000 mph! Isn’t that amazing? These intriguing organisms eat small crustaceans such as Mysis Shrimp, daphnia, cyclops, larvae, and mysids. An adult seahorse eats about 30-50 times a day and seahorse fry (seahorse babies) eat about 3,000 pieces of food daily. Seahorses are carnivorous, but the things that they eat have to be very small because of the small size of the snout. Seahorses obtain their food by sucking it through their snout very quickly. Before seahorses start to feed they make a distinct clicking sound which can also be heard during territorial disputes between males, and during courtship. The reason that these hungry creatures eat so much is that anything that the seahorse eats goes through their digestive system very rapidly because they have no stomach. Also, did you know that seahorse catch their prey up to 90 percent of the time which is higher percentage than most land animals that are near the top of the food chain. The diet of these captivating critters is one of the most appealing things about them.
Closing
Of all the many animals and fish in the ocean the seahorse is among the most intriguing and bizarre. Some of the many ways that these extraordinary fish fascinate people are their body structure, movement, and diet. Certainly these are some of the best creatures in the ocean.
Word Wall
Poem
Spectacular Seahorse
Seahorses, one of the most fascinating creatures
Different from almost any other animal in existence
They have a tail that wraps around the objects around them
They are very small carnivores
Seahorses have fantastic camouflage that makes it hard to spot them
Their head looks like a real horse
There are 47 different types of this amazing fish
Certainly one of the most appealing sea dwelling creatures
Go Fish
In Go Fish we had the chance to make a 20 gallon fish tank were we had a fake budget of $250. My tank had 5 Lyretail Guppies, 4 Assorted Male Fancy Guppies, 2 Double-Tails Betas, and 8 Neon Tetras. All of these fish are freshwater fish. In total I spent $212.33. The theme for my fish tank was to have a freshwater fish tank with lots of colorful, tropical-looking fish. In addition to that I also chose the fish because they look very unusual. That is my Go Fish tank.
Diorama
2. Blue Whale
3. Jellyfish
4. Great White Shark
5. Clown fish
6. Coral
7. Octopus
8. Crab
9. Seaweed