The First Oddity In Evolutionary History—Seahorse
PHOTO: Yueke
Magical Animal Seahorse
The scientific name of seahorse, Hippocampus, comes from ancient Greek, which means horse and sea monster. In Greek mythology, the god with the upper body of a horse and the lower body of a fish comes from the seahorse.
PHOTO: Yueke
Europeans believe that the souls of sailors who encountered shipwrecks were trapped on the bottom of the sea, and it was the seahorse that took their souls to the underworld, so that they could rest in peace. In some superhero movies, seahorses appear as mounts of the underwater kingdom. These are the impressions of seahorses in Western culture.
PHOTO: Yueke
In the impression of Chinese culture, seahorses are similar to Chinese dragons, and its relative, the sea dragon, is more similar to the Chinese dragon. Seahorses are called the illegitimate son of dragons in Japanese, and they believe that seahorses have half the blood of dragons.
PHOTO: Yueke
The stereotype of seahorses seems to be very majestic, but the reality of seahorses is not like this. There are 55 species of seahorses in the ocean, the largest seahorse is only 36 cm, and the smallest seahorse is only 1.4 cm.
PHOTO: Yueke
The swimming speed of seahorses is also very slow. Seahorses are a kind of fish, but the fins have basically degenerated, and the swimming speed is not fast. It is the slowest fish in the Guinness World Records. Its scales have also degenerated, and it is surrounded by layers of bone plates as a defense. The tail fin has changed into a tail, which can grab objects and prevent being swept away by the water.
PHOTO: Yueke
The mouth of the seahorse is like a straw, sucking food into its stomach along with seawater, which is very convenient. This way of eating evolved due to the food it hunts: plankton, an important part of the ocean. These plankton can dodge by sensing the water flow, and the reaction speed is very fast at 900 meters per second. In order to prey on these plankton, seahorses first approach them at a very slow speed, and then use their slender mouths to suck the plankton into their stomachs. They will not cause any fluctuations when they attack quickly, so that the plankton will not react.
PHOTO: Yueke
One difference between seahorses and other animals is that seahorses are bred by their fathers. Male seahorses have a brood pouch where females need to lay their eggs. The pouch provides a suitable place, nutrition and shelter until one day, the male seahorse lays the offspring. These baby seahorses are born complete. This method of reproduction is called ovoviviparity, and theoretically the survival rate is quite high.
Recommend
30 Weird Facts That Will Blow Your Mind
20 Photos and Memes That Prove Cats Are Total Jerks
15 Amazing Health Facts