Brazilian Seahorse
Have you seen a horse in real life? How about a Seahorse? These critters look like something out of a storybook, and they are absolutely AMAZING!
Let’s imagine we are scuba divers heading on an underwater excursion in the Caribbean Sea. Jump on in, let’s get a closer look at the Brazilian Seahorse.
Critter At A Glance
What are their critter talents? The Brazilian Seahorse has a long thick snout, no teeth, a body shaped kind of like an ‘S’ and an amazing curved tail. They aren’t very skilled swimmers, but these horses of the sea can wrap their tails around different plants to hold in place very well. They don’t have too many natural predators because of their ability to camouflage and the fact that they have very bony plates and spines.
What are the mother’s and father’s roles? They mate for life and the father carries the embryos in something called a brood pouch. This pouch is kind of like a kangaroo pouch. Brazilian Seahorses grow to be 7 inches long and live between 1-4 years.
What is their diet? These critters only eat during daylight hours and love to feast on ghost shrimp, grass shrimp, opossum shrimp, amphipods, and other small marine crustaceans. They ambush prey and use their long snout and small mouth to create suction drawing live prey into their mouths. They swallow their food whole and it passes really fast through their digestive systems.
With such unique qualities, will Sadie figure out what makes her truly shine? Listen below!
Are you ready for an out of this world fact?
Seahorses are hitchhikers. They can travel long distances across the ocean by attaching themselves to floating seaweed and debris. They are very slow swimmers on their own.
Critter Protectors we need you to join the CritterQ!
Today’s challenge is to draw OR color your own seahorse. It’s such a cool looking critter, and I’m sure your creation will be even cooler! Grab some coloring supplies of your choice. You can follow the tutorial below OR print off the seahorse PDF to decorate.
Share your art!! #heymrjim
Click the picture to download and print!
“Hippocampus Reidi.” Florida Museum, 12 May 2017, https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/hippocampus-reidi/.