It has the head of a horse, the body of a dragon, and the tail of a monkey.


It has no teeth and no stomach. It lives in the sea, but this animal can barely swim. Meet the seahorse. It may not look like a fish, but it


is one. Each of its odd parts helps it survive in the ocean.


Seeing the Seahorse


A seahorse is made up of a lot of odd parts. Together, these parts help it survive.


long neck


Rings of Plates Seahorses swim in many oceans of the world. Some are as small as a bean. Others are as big as a banana. Seahorses are vertebrates, like all


fish. T is means that all seahorses have backbones. Most fish have tough scales that


protect them. A seahorse doesn’t. It has bony plates that protect its insides. T e plates form rings that go from the top of the seahorse’s neck to the tip of its tail. A seahorse’s thin skin stretches around the rings.


powerful back fin


Blending In A seahorse can protect itself another way, too. Its skin can change color. T is is called camouflage. Let’s say a pink seahorse swims in


strong snout


front of green seaweed. Its skin slowly starts to turn green. T is change in color helps the seahorse blend in with the seaweed. It seems to disappear. T e pygmy seahorse uses another


gripping tail


kind of camouflage. Pink and white bumps cover its body. It lives in corals that have pink and white bumps. T e pygmy seahorse is hard to see when it swims into these corals. So they’re a great place for this seahorse to hide from predators.


4 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER


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