Common Seahorse

(Hippocampus kuda)

The Common Seahorse, also known as Hippocampus kuda is found in estuaries, reefs, and mud slopes in Southeastern Asia, Japan, Australia, and temperate waters along the U.S.  The Common Seahorse is found in the domain, Eukarya, kingdom, Animalia, phylum, Chordata, class, Actinopterygii, order, Syngnathiformes, family,  Syngnathidae, genus, Hippocampus, and lastly, the species of kuda.  The Common Seahorse has bilateral symmetry meaning if you drew a line down the center of the sea horse (in the front) and folded the ends together, they would match up.  The Common Seahorse has a bony exoskeleton that is held together with a fleshy skin.  This organism also has a coiled tail, a small dorsal fin, and a long, tubed nose.  The Common Seahorse uses its tubed nose to get into small creases or holes and suck in the food, which is a functional adaptation.  This organism can contact other seahorses by making a sound similar to lips smacking which is a behavioral adaptation.  Another adaptation that the Common Seahorse has is a flexible tail, allowing it to grab onto thin things if it is tired and to be able to have full focus on an organism when it is feeding time, this is a functional adaptation.  An interesting fact about this organism is that Seahorses prefer to swim in pairs with their tails linked together.  Predators of the Common Seahorse includes penguins, fish, and some humans.  Prey of the Common Seahorse are  plankton, fish, shrimp, and copepods, a small crustacean.  The Common Seahorse is a heterotroph and is Endothermic, meaning that they are cold-blooded.