WEBVTT - How Do Seahorses Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Floor and Vogue Bomb. Here let's talk about

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<v Speaker 1>sea horses from the growling, clicking, and purring sounds that

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<v Speaker 1>they often make when greeting their mate to their piley

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<v Speaker 1>monogamous nature, and there's much more to this distinctive and

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<v Speaker 1>charismatic marine wildlife creature than its trademark horse like head,

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<v Speaker 1>elongated mouth, and curly tail. For example, they're actually fish.

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<v Speaker 1>They may not look like it due to their unusual

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<v Speaker 1>anatomical shape and lack of scales, but they actually belong

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<v Speaker 1>to the class of bony fish that includes salmon and swordfish,

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<v Speaker 1>and the family affused jawed fish that includes pipe fish

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<v Speaker 1>and sea dragons. All sea horses some forty four species

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<v Speaker 1>are part of the genus Hippocampus, a combination of the

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<v Speaker 1>Greek words for horse and sea monster. Sea horses do

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<v Speaker 1>have many fiscal traits in common with fish, including swim

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<v Speaker 1>ladders that keep them buoyant in the water and gills

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<v Speaker 1>to breathe. Unlike fish, however, sea horses are clad in

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<v Speaker 1>a strong suit of sturdy armor like plates and possess

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<v Speaker 1>a tough bony structure that makes them difficult for other

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<v Speaker 1>fish to digest, the result they don't have many natural predators.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the most distinct species is the largest, the

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<v Speaker 1>big belly sea horse, found only in Australia, with a

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<v Speaker 1>maximum height of around fourteen inches that's thirty five centimeters.

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<v Speaker 1>This source has a distinctively large belly that's especially prominent

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<v Speaker 1>in males, and also has large dark spots on its

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<v Speaker 1>head and trunk, making it easy to identify. Another distinct

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<v Speaker 1>group are the smallest pigmy sea horses. They're less than

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<v Speaker 1>an inch or two and a half centimeters in length,

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<v Speaker 1>and they have an amazing ability to blend perfectly into

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<v Speaker 1>their surroundings, which renders them almost impossible to find. Sea

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<v Speaker 1>horses are the lowest moving of all fish species because

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<v Speaker 1>the only way they have to propel themselves is by

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<v Speaker 1>using the tiny fin in the middle of their back.

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<v Speaker 1>This single fin can beat back and forth up to

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<v Speaker 1>fifty times a second, but the size of the fin

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<v Speaker 1>keeps the sea horse from traveling great distances, even with

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<v Speaker 1>small pectoral fins that help them steer. Sea horses are

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<v Speaker 1>known to be so delicate that they can become fatally

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<v Speaker 1>exhausted when waters get rough during storms. However, they are dexterous.

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<v Speaker 1>They're flexible tails allow them to anchor themselves to coral

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<v Speaker 1>or seaweed when they need to rest. At times, they've

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<v Speaker 1>even been known to wrap their tails around their mates

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<v Speaker 1>so that they don't lose one another. This aspect of

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<v Speaker 1>their anatomy also makes them skilled hitchhikers. They may not

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<v Speaker 1>be able to travel long distances quickly alone, but linking

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<v Speaker 1>themselves to floating vegetation can take them to all types

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<v Speaker 1>of interesting destinations. And sea horses are unusual and that

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<v Speaker 1>they not only can move forward, but also up, down,

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<v Speaker 1>and backward. The shape of their heads also helps them

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<v Speaker 1>glide through the water almost silently. Combine that with their

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<v Speaker 1>ability to camouflage into their surroundings thanks to helpful chromatophores

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<v Speaker 1>in their skin cells, and sea horses make great hunters,

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<v Speaker 1>with a predatory kill rate of around But sea horses

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<v Speaker 1>don't have teeth or even a stomach like other marine species,

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<v Speaker 1>so how do they eat. Instead of a mouth that

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<v Speaker 1>opens and closes like ours, they have a tube for

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<v Speaker 1>a snout that they use to suck in all of

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<v Speaker 1>their food like a vacuum. They eat pretty much anything

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<v Speaker 1>small enough to fit through their mouth, which primarily is

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<v Speaker 1>shrimp like creatures, baby fish, and other small organisms. And

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<v Speaker 1>because they don't have stomachs, they have to eat constantly.

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<v Speaker 1>Since they're slow swimmers, they don't chase their prey, relying

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<v Speaker 1>on sneak attacks to catch a meal. And let's talk

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<v Speaker 1>about that monogamy. Lots of sea horses stay with the

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<v Speaker 1>same partner for one or more breeding seasons. Every morning,

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<v Speaker 1>seahorse couples engage in ritualistic dances to greet each other,

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<v Speaker 1>ving through intricate rhythmic sequences of twists and twirls for

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<v Speaker 1>minutes to hours on end. They engage in these daily

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<v Speaker 1>dances to strengthen their romantic bond, to ensure that their

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<v Speaker 1>reproductive cycles are properly sinked, and to verify each day

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<v Speaker 1>that their partner is both still fervently committed and alive

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<v Speaker 1>after holding a complex cording dance. During the reproductive cycle,

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<v Speaker 1>female seahorse lays eggs and then places them into a

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<v Speaker 1>pouch of skin on the male's body that's known as

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<v Speaker 1>a brood pouch. Then the male sea horse settles into

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<v Speaker 1>an area to rest throughout gestation, which can last up

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<v Speaker 1>to a number of weeks. It's finally time to give birth.

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<v Speaker 1>The fathers go through a series of violent contractions that

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<v Speaker 1>push out the teensy babies, which are about the size

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<v Speaker 1>of grains of rice. They'll spend the first two to

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<v Speaker 1>three weeks of their lives alone, drifting along in the

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<v Speaker 1>plankton layer of the ocean. Less than one in a

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<v Speaker 1>thousand will survive long enough to become an adult, due

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<v Speaker 1>to predators that eat them. The sea horse was thought

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<v Speaker 1>to have mystical significance among several ancient cultures. The ancient

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<v Speaker 1>Greeks and Romans associated the sea horse with the sea

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<v Speaker 1>god Neptune or Poseidon, so the sea horse was considered

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<v Speaker 1>a symbol of strength and power, and some of the

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<v Speaker 1>oldest sea horse stories tell of Poseidon galloping through the

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<v Speaker 1>oceans on a golden chariot pulled by hippocamps beasts that

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<v Speaker 1>had the head in front, hoofs of a horse, and

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<v Speaker 1>a body and tail of a fish. It's thought that

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<v Speaker 1>ancient Greek fishermen believed the real sea horses they sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>found tangled in their nets were the offspring of Poseidon's

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<v Speaker 1>mighty steeds. Other ancient European stories say that the sea

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<v Speaker 1>horse carried the souls of deceased sailors to the underworld,

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<v Speaker 1>giving them safe passage and protection until they met their

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<v Speaker 1>soul's destination, and some ancient Chinese stories labeled the sea

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<v Speaker 1>horse a type of seed dragon, and as such were

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<v Speaker 1>considered symbols of good luck. Today's episode is based on

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<v Speaker 1>article sea horses have Hotels plus nine other amazing sea

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<v Speaker 1>horsebacks on how stuff works dot Com, written by Windy Bowman.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler

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