Common Seahorse

Hippocampus kuda, commonly known as the common seahorse, estuary seahorse, yellow seahorse or spotted seahorse, is a species of seahorse native to the coastal waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, ranging from the Persian Gulf and East Africa east to the Japanese coast and south to Australia. It inhabits estuaries, seagrass beds, mangroves, and coral reefs at depths from the surface to about 30 m.

The common seahorse is unique among fish in that it is the male that becomes pregnant, carrying developing young in a specialized brood pouch for around two to four weeks. Seahorses swim upright using rapid undulations of their dorsal fin and steer with their pectoral fins, while their prehensile tail allows them to anchor to seagrass and coral. Like all seahorses, H. kuda is a sit-and-wait predator, ambushing small crustaceans and zooplankton.