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A seahorse's tail is like a monkey tail. Scientists call these prehensile
tails because they can grasp like a hand. The seahorse's tail helps it to
hang onto sea plants while it waits for food to swim by. Seahorses
also hang onto each other with their tails.
In most animals, the female
of the species carries the
young. Not so with the
strange little seahorse.
When the female is ready to
lay her eggs, she wraps her
tail around a male seahorse's
neck. Then, she deposits her
eggs into a special pouch on
the male seahorse's
abdomen. The eggs hatch and
grow inside this little pouch
and the male's mid-section
gets very round and big.
When the little seahorses are
big enough, the pouch starts
to contract and the baby
seahorses are pushed into the
wide watery world.
Number the pictures
in order to show
how baby seahorses
are born.
Seahorses look like they are
wearing armor. Actually
they have a shiny external
skeleton made up of interlocking
bony plates – like an armadillo!
Standards Link: Reading Comprehension:
Sequence information found in text.
The seahorse looks like it is made up of many
different animals.
Unscramble each word to find out the odd parts
of the tiny seahorse. Stuck on some? Keep
reading this page and you will find the answers.
It has:
The long snout of a seahorse
gives the animal its horsey
appearance. Unlike a horse,
the seahorse mouth does
not open and close or have
any teeth. The seahorse
uses its snout like a little
vacuum cleaner, sucking up
its favorite foods of brine shrimp,
baby eels and other tiny sea creatures.
One seahorse eye can
look up while the other
looks down. One eye can
look for food while the
other is on the lookout for
predators. Another kind of
animal that has eyes that
can move independently
is the chameleon.
Find the two
identical
seahorses on
this page.
Standards Link: Life Science: Animals have structures that
serve different functions in growth, survival and reproduction.
www.kidscoop.com © Vicki Whiting August 2021
Official Kids Mag
