Big-Belly Seahorse Behavior

Behavior

The prehensile tail allows them to coil around anything they can. This is crucial to their survival as they can’t move very fast. They also can’t do well in water that moves quickly.

When there are changes such as heavy storms large numbers of the Big-Belly Seahorse are found dead. This is due to the fact that they try to keep up with the movement of the water. They simply get too exhausted and then they end up dying. Changes to the overall environment in Earth have resulted in some huge storms wiping out large numbers of these seahorses in various locations.

Diet /Feeding

They feed on a variety of small crustaceans that are mainly found around the sea weed. They use their snout to be able to take in food and to swallow it in one piece. They can’t consume food that is larger than their snout. This is why it is a big part of the body and one that may look too large for them when they are young.

Reproduction

Before the Big-Belly Seahorse will take part in mating they are going to engage in various rituals. This allows them to get their movements to be one and the same. A variety of color changes and head movements often occur during the courtship rituals. It will take several days for actual mating to begin.

When that does happen the female will deposit eggs from her body into the pouch on the male. As many as 700 eggs may be deposited during this period of time. When the young are born several weeks later they have to care for themselves. This is why so many of them do end up eaten in the first weeks of life by various predators.

(source:google/http://www.seahorseworlds.com/)