What is Seahorse?
{{Taxobox | image = Hippocampus kuda (Estuary seahorse).jpg | fossil_range = Lower [[Miocene]] to Present | image_width = 200px | image_caption = ''Hippocampus'' sp. | name = ''Hippocampus'' | regnum = [[Animalia]] | phylum = [[Chordata]] | classis = [[Actinopterygii]] | ordo = [[Syngnathiformes]] | familia = [[Syngnathidae]] | genus = '''''Hippocampus''''' | genus_authority = Cuvier, 1816 }} [[File:Hippocampus histrix (Thorny seahorse).jpg|thumb|right|200px|Thorny seahorse]] [[File:Sea horses.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Camouflaged seahorses]] '''Seahorses''' are a type of [[teleost]] [[fish]]. They are in the [[genus]] '''''Hippocampus.''''' They are called 'seahorses' because their head looks like a [[Horse|horse's]] head. There are about 32–48 [[species]] of seahorse. Seahorses live in [[tropical]] [[ocean]]s. Seahorses use [[camouflage]] to hide.<ref name=seahorse/> == Fossil record == The earliest known seahorse fossils are ''[[Hippocampus sarmaticus|H. sarmaticus]]'' and ''[[Hippocampus slovenicus|H. slovenicus]]''. == Reproduction == Seahorses are [[wikt:unique|unique]] because the male hatches the [[Egg (biology)|eggs]] in a pouch on his belly.<ref name=seahorse/> The female inserts her [[ovipositor]] into the male’s brood pouch. She places dozens to thousands of eggs in the pouch. As the female releases her eggs, her body slims while his swells. The male releases his [[sperm]] directly into the water. The sperm then fertilize the eggs in the pouch. The fertilised eggs are then embedded in the pouch wall.<ref name=seahorse/> They get [[nutrition]] and [[oxygen]] from the fluid in the pouch. In the pouch, the [[salinity]] of the water is controlled. This prepares the newborns for life in the sea.<ref name=seahorse>{{Cite web |url=http://seahorse.fisheries.ubc.ca/why-seahorses/essential-facts |title=The Seahorse Project |access-date=2012-01-23 |archive-date=2012-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204072306/http://seahorse.fisheries.ubc.ca/why-seahorses/essential-facts |url-status=dead }}</