Do you like them? Meanwhile, they use the pectoral fins at each side of the head to maneuver and navigate. A body covered with bony plates. Pygmy seahorses are small animals with a length of about 1.4 to 2.7 cm (0.55 to 1.06 inches). In other words, the genome alone doesn’t provide a step-by-step story for how seahorses switched from moms to dads caring for their babies. Photo courtesy Byrappa Venkatesh. Seahorse tails are peculiar appendages. This allows the female’s body to begin producing more eggs right away, which ensures that she’ll be able to mate again sooner rather than later in order to keep the species alive. Seahorses make a disti… All Rights Reserved. Their unique courtship includes dancing with one another, displaying a variety of colors, swimming alongside one another, and spinning around each other. Seahorses find a companion that they’ll stay with for life. Seahorses are truly unique, and not just because of their unusual equine shape. Seahorses are particularly vulnerable to the illness, although experts are not sure why. For instance, seahorses are missing “P/Q-rich SCPP” genes, which cause minerals to collect into teeth. Several repeated genes and other missing ones provide clues as to why the seahorse is so distinctive from even its most closely related evolutionary cousins. Findings of the study were published in the journal Nature. They have the heads and necks of dressage horses, but they’re fish! Therefore, it doesn’t have many predators to worry about. In average less than 0.5% of infants survive to adulthood, explaining why litters are so large. Seahorses really love to eat. To find out why they are so weird, a team of international researchers has sequenced the seahorse genome for the first time. But they’re really good at anchoring themselves to corals and grasses, thanks to their prehensile tails that allow them to stay steady and eat despite strong currents. Male pregnancy. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/unlock-secrets-seahorses-look-genes, Vaccines against the coronavirus will have side effects – that’s a good thing, Renaissance master painter breaks gender barriers centuries later, The challenges Biden will face on immigration reform, AP: Trump aide banned from Justice building after trying to get case info, In battle for the Senate, Georgia organizers fight to mobilize voters of color, Georgia GOP seeks mail-in ballot changes, despite no evidence of systemic fraud, WATCH: McCarthy expresses optimism over virus relief bill, 6 tips for navigating ACA open enrollment if you’re a COVID-19 ‘long hauler’. The seahorse is elusive and seeks shelter among coral reefs, seaweed, mangroves, and estuaries. They may not look like it, but they’re technically fish. Seahorses! The seahorse is too bony and indigestible for the majority of species that it shares its home with. The genes that make seahorses so weird By Rachael Lallensack Dec. 14, 2016 , 1:00 PM Seahorses are bizarre little ocean anomalies, from their tube-shaped snouts to their prehensile tails. Some species can actually change the color of their bodies to blend in, while others are already built with the right color, shape, size, and texture to blend in perfectly with the corals. The female lays her eggs in the male's pouch for him … Seahorses are unique in more than one way. In addition to their iconic appearance, seahorses possess many interesting attributes. The genus name comes from two Ancient Greek words: hippos, which means horse, and kampos, which means sea monster. Have you ever read a racing form and wondered why do owners give their horses such weird names. California. Renaissance master painter breaks gender barriers centuries later, Read These are the odd, quintessential features of seahorses, but why? I have, so I decided to do some research to find out the reason. It’s up to the male to carry those eggs until they’re ready to be born. But Kenyon Mobley, an evolutionary biologist at Lausanne University in Switzerland who wasn’t involved in this study, said there are still open questions about paternal care. Food passes right through them, so they need to continue consuming in order to stay alive.