Maine AnimalsSea HorsesBy: Veronica Messina

Animal's  Name

• My animal is called a seahorse.• Their scientific name is hippocampus.• Something interesting about their name is that they are called sea

horses because of the shape of their heads.• Babies are called ponies.

Classification

• Seahorses are fish. • Seahorses are vertebrates, that means they have a backbone and it

is also a fish because it has gills.

Appearance

• Their colors can be: white, black, green, orange or red and they can actually change colors!

• They are 6 to 8 inches.

      

Movement

Sea horses swim upright, drifting in the sea.   

Diet• They suck food up into their tube-shaped mouths.• They have no teeth and eat their food whole. • Sea horses mostly eat shrimp, tiny fish, and plankton.

Habitat

Seahorses are generally found in warm waters, but sometimes found as far as Cape Cod and the Gulf of Maine.

Adaptations

Sea horses use their tails to grab onto sea grasses and coral.A sea horse's eyes are like a lizard's because one eye looks left and the other looks right.

Life Cycle & ReproductionSome male sea horses die a few days after birth because of the dead ponies left in the pouch that rot and cause infection.The mail carries the babies but does not care for them.

BehaviorA sea horse snaps at the prey that comes near.With its tube shaped mouth they create a vacuum that gets the foodinto its mouth.

    Defense &  Offense

They have bone plates that help protect their bodies.

Enemies• crabs • rays • tuna • people • birds 

Species Survival StatusIf the population is stable, only two of thousands of young that a pair produces will reach maturity.

Bibliography

Here are the sites I used for my research:• http://www.kidcyber.com/seahorses.htm• http://www.allthesea.com/seahorses.html

Something SpecialSea horses utter musical sounds.

Quiz Time

What are 3 things a sea horses eats?  On the slide called "Appearance" what colors are they?

What are the 5 enemies of sea horses?

What's the name of the slide where you learned that a seahorse is a fish? Does a sea horse have eyes like a lizard's?  yes or no?

Answer

   1. Shrimp, tiny, fish, and plankton     2. white, black, green, orange or red     3. crabs, rays, tuna, birds, and people      4. classification       5. yes