South America's West coast through Carribean, Mexico, Florida

Dried Sea Horses
Up For Sale

Interaction With Other Organisms & Environment

On its own, a baby seahorse has a lot to contend with. On average, if the population is stable, only two of the thousands of young that a pair produces will reach maturity. Life doesn't become much easier as an adult; the seahorse must still avoid its natural predators, such as crab, tuna, skates, and rays. Storms are probably the biggest natural cause of death for adult seahorses because they tear seahorses from their holdfasts, to be cast ashore or die of exhaustion.  If the water temperature is too low, seahorses have few mechanisms to maintain body heat and will die.  If the salinity is too high, sea horses will shrivel and die as water diffuses out of their bodies.

Place humans into the picture and the odds worsen. Because it is a slow-swimming fish, the seahorse has to rely on camouflage to escape capture. In addition, it is found in easy-to-reach coastal waters. It has few ways to avoid being caught.

Seahorses are sought after for a variety of reasons:

• Chinese medicine
  Chinese and other asian cultures have been using seahorses in medicine for 400 to 500 years. The seahorse is believed to cure impotency and asthma, lower cholesterol, and prevent arteriosclerosis. A delicacy in cooking, the seahorse is also thought to enhance virility.
• Aquariums
  Hobbyists are often enchanted by these peculiar-looking fish, and buy them for home aquariums. However, seahorses are very difficult to keep because they require live brine shrimp for food and are prone to disease in a contained environment.
• Souvenirs
  Dried seahorses are used to fashion keychains, jewelry, paperweights, and other souvenirs.

In addition to direct human threats, the seahorse's habitat is also threatened. Seahorses live in sea grass beds, mangroves, or coral reefs, which can be destroyed through trawling, dredging, polluting, or even intense storms.

No one knows exactly how many seahorses there are in the world. Because of this, and because of the high demand for the seahorse, conservationists are working hard to ensure this magical fish has a future.