Wildlife
Seahorses, pipefish and seadragons fall under the family Syngnathidae. They all feed by sucking tiny invertebrates up into their snouts and the males brood the eggs in a pouch until they hatch out.
Scientific name: Syngnathidae
Rank: Family
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Plankton feeders
Warm flood waters stimulate plankton growth to support the food chain.
Warm flood waters stimulate plankton growth to support the food chain.
Doubling the odds
Shared parenting allows pipefish to produce more young.
Shared parenting allows pipefish to produce more young.
Night dive with predators
Tooni Mahto and Paul Rose night diving with predators such as Pollock, Pipefish, Jellyfish and Cuttlefish.
Tooni Mahto and Paul Rose night diving with predators such as Pollock, Pipefish, Jellyfish and Cuttlefish.
Fantasy fish
Seahorses are like composite creatures, and a little too fascinating for their own good.
The scientific name for seahorses comes from Ancient Greek: hippos meaning horse and kampos meaning sea monster. Most are found in shallow tropical and temperate seas throughout the world - there are even some off British coasts. Many are endangered or vulnerable and others have not undergone sufficient research to establish how they are faring. Traditional medicine takes an estimated 20 million seahorses from the sea every year, with the souvenir and pet trades taking a further million each. They are complicated and difficult creatures to conserve as seahorse fishing is economically important in many developing countries. Alternative financial support must be provided if it is to stop.
The Seahorses and pipefish can be found in a number of locations including: Great Barrier Reef. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Seahorses and pipefish distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Discover the other animals and plants that lived during the following geological time periods.
Syngnathidae is a family of fish which includes the seahorses, the pipefishes, and the weedy and leafy sea dragons. The name is derived from Greek, meaning "fused jaw" - syn meaning fused or together, and gnathus meaning jaws. This fused jaw trait is something the entire family has in common.
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Paternal care
Adapted to swimming
Carnivorous
Tactile sense
Egg layer
Visual communication
Eocene epoch
Oligocene epoch
Miocene epoch
Pliocene epoch
Pleistocene epoch
Holocene epoch