Seahorses are a popular aquarium fish, mainly because of their unique appearance.
Other fish can swim faster and do more things than the slow swimming seahorse but since aquariums are made for people to watch fish, many people have found themselves gazing at the seahorse doing nothing just because it looks so weird.
Seahorses have such a unique appearance that some people even wonder if seahorses are real?
Seahorses are real living fish, identified and classified by scientists. Seahorses are not real in the sense that there is a horse that lives in the sea. Seahorse is just the name given to this unique fish because its head and neck coincidentally look like a horse’s head and neck.
Are Giant Seahorses Real?
The largest known seahorses by average size are the pot-bellied seahorse and the big-belly seahorses that live in Australia and New Zealand. They can grow up to 35 cm or 1 ft and 2 inches long. They are known for their large bellies that resemble a potbelly.
Pacific seahorses, so-named because they live in the Pacific Ocean, grow between 12-19 cm or 4.7 to 7.5 inches.
The longest pacific seahorse on record is 30cm or 12 inches.
Where are Seahorses Found?
Seahorses are found all over the world, with the number of different species over 50 as of this writing.
| Seahorse Species: | Where They Live: |
| Zebra Seahorse | Lives in the coastal waters of Northern Australia |
| Dwarf Seahorse | Lives in the coastal waters of the Bahamas and parts of the United States. |
| Short-Snouted SeahorseLives in the coastal waters of the Mediterranean Sea and parts of the North Atlantic, particularly around Italy and the Canary IslandsLong-Snouted Seahorse Lives in the coastal waters of the northeast Atlantic, including the MediterraneanLined Seahorse Lives in the coastal waters of the Western”Atlantic OceanBig-Belly seahorse Lives in coastal waters of AustraliaYellow/Common SeahorseLives in the coastal waters of the Persian Gulf, Southeast Asia, Australia, Japan, Pacific islands including Hawaii, the eastern coast of Africa from Tanzania to South Africa, including the Indo-Pacific region ranging from the northwest Indian Ocean to the central areas of the Pacific OceanBargibant’s SeahorseLives in coastal waters of the Central Indo-Pacific areaPacific SeahorseLives in coastal waters of the Eastern Pacific OceanSpiny SeahorseLives in coastal waters of the Indo-Pacific areaLongsnout/Slender SeahorseLives in coastal waters of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, United States (Florida and North Carolina), and Venezuela. | |
| Denise’s Pygmy Seahorse Lives in the coastal waters of the western PacificTiger Tail SeahorseLives in the coastal waters of India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. | |
| White’s Seahorse | Lives in the coastal waters of the Southwest Pacific, from Sydney, New South Wales, and southern Queensland to the Solomon Islands. |
| Flat-Faced Seahorse | Lives in the coastal waters of Australia, Cocos Islands, French Polynesia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam |
| Great Seahorse | Lives in coastal waters of the East African coast to Japan, Northern, and Southern Australia |
| Japanese Seahorse | Lives in coastal waters of Japan and as far south as the Palk Bay coast of southeastern India, Kampot, Cambodia, China, Thailand, and Vietnam |
| Barbour’s Seahorse | Lives on the coasts of the”Philippines,”Malaysia, and”Indonesia |
| Knysna Seahorse | Lives on the southern coast of South Africa |
| Hedgehog Seahorse | Lives in coastal waters of India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and northern Australia |
| Crowned Seahorse | Live in the Pacific coastal waters of Japan |
| Knobby Seahorse | Lives in the coastal waters of southwestern and southeastern Australia, from Gregory to Bremer Bay, and from Denial Bay to Newcastle |
| Tiger-Snout Seahorse | Lives in coastal waters of South-Western Australia |
| Satomi’s Pygmy Seahorse | Lives in the coastal waters of the Derawan Islands off Kalimantan |
| Réunion Seahorse | Lives in the coastal waters of Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, South Africa, and Tanzania |
| West African Seahorse | Lives in coastal waters of the eastern central Atlantic Ocean off Angola, Benin, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and the Canary Islands. |
| Giraffe Seahorse | Lives in the coastal waters off of the south and east coasts of Africa, from South Africa to Tanzania, and possibly north to Kenya |
| South African Pygmy Seahorse | Coastal waters of South Africa |
| Narrow-Bellied Seahorse | Lives in the coastal waters off of Australia, from Perth to Hervey Bay, and the southern portion of Papua New Guinea in the Torres Strait |
| Bullneck Seahorse | Lives in the coastal waters of Eden, Australia |
| Jayakar’s Seahorse | Lives in the coastal waters of Western Indian Ocean, from the Red and Arabian seas to the central coast of Pakistan |
| Shiho’s Seahorse | Lives in the Pacific coastal waters of Japan |
| Fisher’s Seahorse | Lives in the coastal waters of Australia and New Caledonia |
| Big-Head seahorse | Lives in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria |
What is the Tiniest Seahorse?
Satomi’s pygmy seahorse is the smallest seahorse on record measuring in at a minuscule 13.8 mm or .54 inches or for perspective, smaller than most fingernails.
It is named after Satomi Onishi, the diver who collected it close to Derawan Island in Indonesian Borneo.
Can You Own a Seahorse?
Seahorses are common aquarium pets, although they are known as some of the hardest fish to take care of in the aquarium trade.
If you do buy a seahorse for your aquarium, make sure it is a captive-bred seahorse so you are not supporting taking seahorses from the wild since they are endangered.
Conclusion
Now that you know seahorses are real, read the rest of our seahorse articles so you can go get one of these unique fish and have your own seahorse aquarium at home!
