关于海马的爱

Everybody loves seahorses. Who can resist their pretty horse-like heads, multicolors, and long, curling tails? Mythological stories of mermaids riding these half-fish/half-horse creatures abound. Artistic renditions of seahorses are common in ancient Greek and Roman history, as a water God could only be carried by a horse of the sea. Like a unicorn, seahorses are loved for their seemingly imaginary qualities- except that they are real.

为了使这些看似信仰的生物变得更加有趣和诱人，海马被认为是为了生命而交配的，更不用说他们独特的生殖方法了。女海马是地球其他女性的嫉妒。他们以某种方式将怀孕转移给了男性。没错，男性海马生了。还有什么神话般的呢？

On Life

研究人员估计，大西洋，印度和太平洋大约有50种海马。所有都是该属的成员Hippocampus或古希腊语中的“马海怪”。大多数物种都喜欢靠近海岸的热带和温带水域，包括海草床，红树林和珊瑚礁。虽然至少有一种上层海马（海马费舍里）在海洋深处的海洋深处被发现自由易次。

Seahorses come in many sizes and colors, the smallest being the adorable pygmy seahorse, which is about the size of a pinky fingernail (15mm). These tiny creatures were only discovered a few years ago when they fell off a sea fan that researchers were bringing up.

They blend in so well within their homes that at least six species of pygmies have been found on several types of fan corals, gorgonians, and seagrass. On the other end of the spectrum, one of the largest seahorse species isHippocampus abdominalis，可以长到35厘米。

Seahorses are bony fish without scales. Instead they have a series of ring shaped bony plates with thin skin stretched over them. Much of their movement is propelled by small pectoral fins located behind their eyes, and they have a dorsal fin on their back. They don’t move very fast and often use their prehensile tails to hold onto things like seagrass, coral, or debris underwater. Most species have been found to be territorial and the males stay quite close to home.

一夫一妻制

For the most part, seahorses are thought to mate for life. The same pair will stay together throughout a breeding season, and the same pair is usually found year after year. After courtship, once the male is pregnant, the female returns to him at least once each day.

海马在繁殖前以其精致的求爱而闻名。这对海马夫妇将彼此相邻游泳，握住尾巴 - 我想认为女性是第一步。他们互相改变颜色，有时会在圈子中一起“跳舞”。在交配之前，这对夫妇升到海底，雌性将鸡蛋存放在雄性的袋中。几天后，男性将分娩。

关于男性怀孕

继续以神话为主题，海马雄性怀孕（他们的pipe鱼和海龙男性堂兄也是如此）。根据物种的不同，鸡蛋需要9-45天才能孵化。通常很容易说出女性和怀孕的雄性之间的区别，因为他的小袋变得很大，并且显示出婴儿的肿块。

在分娩时，雄性海马有肌肉收缩，并完全发育（但很小）的婴儿海马从袋中出来，并在电流上漂浮。有些物种一次生下多达200个婴儿！

On Threats to Seahorses

像海马中的许多生物一样，海马也受到威胁。他们最大的问题之一是海马被爱死亡。水族里亚和纪念品行业每年将数百万的海马从海洋中淘汰，以供鱼缸，并以相同的贝壳方式干燥和出售。

Seahorses are also a popular traditional Asian medicine. Most of the time they are ground up and used in pills or powder form, which is thought to help with kidney health, invigorating the blood and promoting labor. There is medical or scientific support to these ideas.

Seahorse habitat is also at risk in the same ways the entire ocean is threatened: destruction of coral reefs, too much development, climate change etc. which devastates their homes.

随着圈养繁殖计划近年来起飞，海马有希望。Seahorse Farms变得越来越受欢迎，并且很容易（通常更便宜）购买海马对以被囚禁和长大的水族馆。养殖海马在坦克中的寿命也比从野外夺走的储罐更长。

These fish farms could alleviate some of the pressure of removing seahorses from the ocean and supporting the aquaria, souvenir, and even the Asian traditional medical trade.

Further Reading

波多黎各Galera潜水

Dumaguete

Diving in Philippines

Subic Bay不仅仅是残骸

Scuba for Change - we are going Live!

Scuba For Change, Conservation in Puerto Galera, Philippines