Some creatures that have not evolved in millions of years, simply because there has not been a need to. Some animals look like aliens. Others are bizarre creatures that look like real-life Frankenstein projects. But all of these animals have managed to survive millions of years with their unique traits, much like the only male animal that actually gets pregnant and gives birth.
Of the strangest animals ever discovered, the seahorse may be one of them. With their oddly shaped bodies that do not resemble any other type of fish, many wondered over the years if they were mythical creatures that turned out to be real.
But in reality, the way that seahorses are shaped and the way that the males give birth versus the females is something that has served them well over millions of years of global change.
Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. Seahorses are now an endangered species and, without intervention, these incredible fish that have reverse roles when it comes to pregnancy, may cease to exist in the near future.
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The Seahorse Is Only Male Animal That Gets Pregnant And Gives Birth
The male seahorse gives birth to thousands of babies at one time
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Seahorses are an interesting species. Unlike all other animals, where the females are the ones who give birth to offspring, it is the males who carry babies for the species.
To give birth, the female and male seahorse must begin a courtship dance. This includes the seahorses intertwining their tails together. This can last "as long as eight hours."
Once the dance ends, the female seahorse will deposit up to 2,000 eggs in the male's pouch at one time.
It is believed, according to National Geographic, that this courtship dance is performed so that the seahorses can "synchronize the movements" of the seahorses so that the male is in the proper position to receive the numerous eggs the female gives him.
After the eggs have been deposited, the male seahorse will remain pregnant for 10 to 25 days. The length of the pregnancy depends on the species.
The baby seahorses will hatch inside the pouch and when it is time to expel the "fry" the male seahorse undergoes abdominal contractions to do so. This can take hours.
Once the seahorses are born, the mother and father seahorses do not care for the young. As such, approximately five out of every 1,000 seahorses make it to adulthood. This is why so many are born at one time and why seahorse populations do not grow exponentially in size when babies are born.
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Seahorses Are An Endangered Species
Seahorses are anticipated to become extinct by 2045
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Seahorses may give birth to 1,500 to 2,000 seahorse babies at a time, but even those numbers are not enough to sustain populations. With several factors stacked against seahorses, they are a species that will face extinction without any changes.
Bottom Trawling Kills Millions Of Seahorses
It is reported that up to 70 million seahorses and their relatives are taken from the ocean annually. Some are taken for the market to make pets, but the biggest number are taken as a result of bottom trawling.
There is not an exact count of how many seahorses are still alive. However, it is believed that there are approximately 20 million left in the wild. With the massive number that are plucked from the oceans thanks to bottom trawling and seahorse fisheries stating that the number of seahorses has decreased by 50% over the last handful of years, it is believed that seahorses could be extinct by 2045.
With 47 different types of seahorses and 12 of them being critically endangered, it is not out of the realm of possibility that a good portion of seahorses will disappear long before two decades from now if there is not any change in the way fishing is done in the oceans that seahorses call home.
Sea Temperature Change
Additionally, seahorses are not great at acclimating to water as it increases with climate change. Even as small as a three-degree Fahrenheit shift in the water is enough to increase the metabolism and ventilation rate of seahorses, causing them to die.
Seahorses would prefer to be in water that is 74F to 76F. Scientists tested seahorses by placing them in different temperatures of water for two to 10 hours per day for four weeks. What they found was that in 89.6F water, well above the temperature that seahorses find comfortable, seahorses died within hours due to their metabolic and ventilation rate being too high.
Those seahorses that were placed in 86F water also faced a heightened metabolic and ventilation rate and eventually died during the study.
Seahorses are found all over the world in tropical waters. Those waters continue to get warmer year after year. With seahorses not being adept to temperature change, it will just be a short matter of time before the oceans they once called home are too warm and seahorses begin to die.
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What Is Being Done To Save Seahorses From Extinction
More attention need to be brought to the plight of the seahorses in order to save them from extinction
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When it comes to saving seahorses, things are being done to save them. Whether any of them will ultimately work or if seahorses are doomed to become extinct, is not yet clear.
Countries Abiding By CITES
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has been signed by 150 countries. This means that a species that is endangered is not allowed to be traded on the market to be a pet. CITES has helped to slow the decline of seahorse populations off the coasts of these countries.
However, there are many countries that have not joined CITES. As such, seahorses are still hunted and traded for profit on the open market.
Breeding Seahorses In Captivity
Seahorses are being bred in captivity to try to boost their populations. With 1,500 to 2,000 seahorses being born at one time, this would seem like a great way to increase the number of seahorses.
Unfortunately, with their small size, according to National Geographic, it is hard to keep seahorses alive in captivity. As such, many do not make it, making a captivity breeding program something that does not substantially change the fact that seahorses are on the Endangered Species List.
Call For Awareness
Conservationists are calling for more awareness of seahorses. Many do not know that seahorses are an endangered species. The belief is that if people knew that the warming of the oceans was having a direct impact on seahorses and that they were unable to tolerate change, more would care about reducing fossil fuels to stop the Earth from warming.
Additionally, there is not much awareness about bottom trawling. If this practice was eliminated from areas where seahorses lived, their populations would be able to increase nearly immediately. But with bottom trawling being such an important practice for those who rely on fishing for their livelihoods, getting them to transition to another way of collecting fish may be a hard road to cross.
If something is not done soon, seahorses are not going to be long for this world. Either mankind needs to accept this or things have to change immediately to turn the tide on the continued decline of the population of seahorses.