These specialized fish are poor swimmers and rely on their colouring and texture to camouflage themselves among coral, seagrass or mangroves where they ambush much smaller prey by sucking them into their toothless snouts. They choose a mate for a season or a lifetime, have complex courting and bonding rituals, and the male carries the embryos to term in his brood pouch. The lined seahorses grow to over 7 inches long and live one to four years. Because of their excellent camouflage, and their body structure of bony plates, they have little danger of predation, but humans collect them for traditional medicine and the aquarium trade. |
