Tag: Hippocampus hudsonius

BEAUTIFUL FISH: SEAHORSE – By Al Bezanson

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

“The sea horse grotesquely resembles the “knight” in an ordinary set of wooden chessmen in its sidewise flattened body, in its deep convex belly, in its curved neck and in its curious horselike head carried at right angles to the general axis of the body. The head is surmounted by a pentagonal star-shaped “coronet,” and the snout is tubular with the small oblique mouth at its tip, like that of its relative the pipefish.”

This exquisite pen and ink drawing from 1883 by H. L. Todd is just one of many by this artist in Fishes of the Gulf of Maine by Bigelow and Schroeder, 576 pp, 1953. The book is available free online courtesy of MBL/WHOI. http://www.gma.org/fogm/

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GLOUCESTER’S LITTLE SEAHORSE FINAL UPDATE

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

Abbie Lundberg, Tony’s wife, writes: “Tony brought home a bunch of sand fleas yesterday and the seahorse was excited – hunting and catching some, but he then spit them back out. The aquarium never called back, so Tony decided to release him today, back in the same area he found him. (Of course the aquarium called after that happened šŸ˜ž) Hopefully he’ll find his way back to warmer waters.”

Thank you to Abbie and Tony for sharing theirĀ seahorse capture and release story.Ā Readers may have noticed in the comment section of the previous updateĀ thatĀ lobsterman Gary also came home with a seahorse, which he found off Plum Cove Beach. I never would have imagined that we have seahorses, even occasional ones, living in the cold waters of Cape Ann, but it is truly exciting to know they are here.

Here’s a short video of a Lined Seahorse that I shot at the aquarium in Cincinnati while visiting relatives about five years ago. Although the same species as Gloucester’s little seahorse, note the two wildly different colors. Lined Seahorses change color to blend with their environment, which aids in capturing prey.

This funny video came up Ā on my video feed, of male seahorses giving birth. FASCINATING!!!

https://youtu.be/Gm7DOrq0TGc