Loading content - please wait...Seahorses are favorites of many divers. Gorontalo waters host several different species. Pygmy seahorses are so cute, but many divers love ones that are big enough to see. The Common Hippocampus kudaHippocampus kuda is the most predictable seahorse for divers to see. Its English name varies considerably. Some call it the Common seahorse. Others call it Estuary seahorse. It lives in shallow waters of mangrove swamps, estuaries and bays. Colors are generally dull, mainly blacks and browns. A yellow colored Common seahorse will be female. Their dull pattern makes them look like debris lying on the ocean floor. This way they wait for small crabs or shrimp to come by. These seahorses suck in their prey whole through their long mouth. They do not have any teeth. Rocking and RollingThe Common seahorse is usually solitary. Sometimes, two of them will be lying still on the sand bottom near to one another. One day we saw several of them rocking and rolling in the deep. Watch Sami Lindross’s great video. Seahorses are most famous for their unusual biology. Males are the ones to give birth not the females. A mature male will develop a brood pouch on his belly. The female inserts her eggs into this pouch for the male to fertilize. The male’s pouch has placental fluid which surrounds the embedded eggs. This fluid provides oxygen, nutrients and waste disposal for the developing eggs. Moreover, the fluid becomes saltier. That way the babies are already adapted to salt water when they hatch. Pregnancy lasts 20 to 28 days. Then the male goes into labor, releasing the baby seahorses from his pouch. Seahorses in GorontaloThe Common seahorse is found at several dive sites in Gorontalo. However, finding them will often require a skilled dive guide. Even after they are found, they can easily drift away. For poor swimmers, seahorses can disappear quickly when they feel disturbed or threatened. For your chance to sight a seahorse in Gorontalo, please book your dive trip with us.