Sucking Up Supper A seahorse’s narrow snout is one of the keys to its success as a hunter. Let’s say a tiny shrimp floats by. T e seahorse snaps its neck forward. Its mouth opens like a trapdoor. T e snout sucks up the prey just like a drinking straw. A seahorse doesn’t have a stomach.


So food passes through it quickly. It must eat all the time to stay alive. A seahorse can eat up to 3,000 little creatures a day.


Baby Boom It’s important for a male seahorse to eat a lot. T at’s because he gives birth to baby seahorses. Seahorses are one of the few species where this happens. A male seahorse has a pouch. T e


female lays her eggs inside the pouch. She may lay as many as 2,000 eggs. T e father carries the eggs for two to four weeks. T en the eggs hatch. T e new babies are called fry. T e fry stay in the pouch until they


grow bigger. Usually, the father gives birth to them at night. It would be too dangerous to give birth during the day. Many predators would be awake and could attack the babies.


8 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER


Small and Soft T e tiny fry face many dangers. T ey’re so small, ocean waves can carry them away from the places where they can find food. T ey can’t change color yet, and


their bony plates are soſt . T at makes them easy prey. Very few survive to become adults. T ey do have one protection, though. T eir bodies are almost see-through. So predators can’t always spot them.


Seahorse Survival T e life of a seahorse is full of danger. It struggles to stay alive. Yet no other animal is built like a


seahorse. Its odd mix of body parts helps it to survive.


Wordwise


fin: a body part used for steering and swimming


snout: the long part of a seahorse’s head; includes nose and mouth


swim bladder: an internal body part filled with air that helps a seahorse swim up and down


vertebrate: any animal that has a backbone


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