Seahorse Inspects a Diver’s Watch

In this remarkable capture, a seahorse checks out a diver’s watch (and own reflection) underwater. Given the clarity of the clouds in the reflection, this was likely taken quite close to the surface. A reverse image search on Tineye and Google did not identify a valid source for this photograph, if you know more please let us know! Since there’s not much additional information here are some facts about seahorses:

- Seahorse is the title given to forty-seven species of marine fish in the genus Hippocampus

- They are mainly found in shallow tropical and temperate waters throughout the world, and prefer to live in sheltered areas such as seagrass beds, estuaries, coral reefs, or mangroves

- Seahorses range in size from 0.6 to 14 inches (1.5 – 35.56 cm). They are named for their equine appearance

- Although they are bony fish, they do not have scales but rather thin skin stretched over a series of bony plates, which are arranged in rings throughout their body

- The male seahorse is equipped with a brood pouch on the ventral, or front-facing, side. When mating, the female seahorse deposits up to 1,500 eggs in the male’s pouch. The male carries the eggs for 9 to 45 days until the seahorses emerge fully developed

- According to Guinness World Records 2009, H. zosterae (the dwarf seahorse) is the slowest moving fish, with a top speed of about 5 feet (150 cm) per hour