Big Bellied Seahorse

The Big Bellied Seahorse resides amongst the rocks and seaweed off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand. They are very large compared to other species of seahorse which can be problematic as they find it difficult to swim in strong tides, which is why they live where there are plenty objects for them to grab a hold of for stability.

They have to be tactical when hunting as they are unable to out swim most of their prey so instead hide in the seaweed and ambush the unsuspecting prey. Although unable to chew down their food, they have a unique ability to expand their snout to consume animals that are bigger than their mouth. Seahorses are unable to store food as they do not have a stomach so anything they eat goes through them very quickly which means they have to eat many times through the day.

Male seahorses are a bit of an anomaly within the animal kingdom as they are the only animal to experience true male pregnancy. Female seahorses will transfer their eggs into the males pouch who will then carry the children. He gives birth by contracting his pouch after he has carried the eggs for three weeks. Once out of the pouch baby seahorses are very independent which may be because they enter a very competitive environment as one father can give birth to hundreds of babies.