Splash Zone: Coral Reef Animals

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Seahorses

CORAL REEF HOME

With heads like horses, tails like monkeys and pouches like kangaroos, seahorses don't look much like fish. But look again—they breathe through gills and have tiny fins for swimming.

Fun fact: In the surprising world of seahorses, it's the male that gets pregnant. He carries eggs in his pouch until they hatch, then gives birth by contracting his belly, releasing tiny seahorses.

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Blending in

Seahorses can blend into a coral reef so well that it's almost impossible to see them. That's a good thing. Poor swimmers, they rely on camouflage and their unappealing bony texture to protect them from predators.

Holding on

When resting by day or sleeping by night, seahorses

curl their long tails around grasses and corals to keep from being swept away by currents.

Hungry again?

Seahorses don't have stomachs, so food passes through them quickly. Because of this, they have to eat and eat and eat.

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