Blog Post #8: Hippocampus and the Fear of Dark Waters

From NOVA Online "Seahorse Basics": http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/seahorse/basics.html

              I have always been fascinated by seahorses. Maybe it’s because I’m a Pisces, a water sign. Maybe it’s because in Roman mythology, Neptune’s chariot is pulled by seahorses. Maybe it’s because their genus name, Hippocampus, comes from the Latin “hippo” meaning horse and “campus” meaning sea monster and I can’t imagine anything much more terrifying than a sea monster. It’s more likely because of the way they look. They have the ability to change color to match their surroundings. They have magnificent headsets. They have plates of armor instead of scales. They have eyes that can rove separately or together. They have a prehensile tail that wraps around a stalk of seaweed or a piece of coral anchoring them in the vast sea.

             There are approximately 54 different species of these fish. I have always loved their species names. As exotic, odd, or common as wildflowers: Winged seahorse, False-eye seahorse,  Giraffe seahorse, Knobby seahorse, Cape seahorse, Tiger Tail seahorse, Crowned seahorse, New Caledonian Thorny seahorse, Big-head seahorse, Long-snouted seahorse, Spiny Seahorse, Lichtenstein's Seahorse, Bullneck seahorse, Japanese seahorse, Monte Bello seahorse, Northern Spiny seahorse, High-crown seahorse, Pygmy Thorny seahorse, Queensland seahorse, Slender seahorse, Half-spined seahorse, Hedgehog seahorse, Tiger Snout seahorse, Flat-faced seahorse, Walea pygmy seahorse, and Zebra seahorse, just to name a few.

I have always admired seahorses and the fact that they are monogamous. If their mate disappears or dies, they are slow to find another partner. I would be slow, too. They are greatly desired in the Traditional Chinese Medicine market as they are thought to be an aphrodisiac and a cure for other ailments. Of course, this requires them to be captured and killed at an estimate of about 20 million a year. Hundreds of thousands of seahorses are captured for the aquarium trade. And since they live in sea grasses, mangroves, coral reefs and estuaries, their homes are being destroyed. So, the chances of them losing a mate are rapidly increasing. This seems especially cruel to a genus known for monogamy.

But what really fascinates me is the fact that the male seahorse is the one who takes care of the young. The female deposits hundreds of eggs into his incubation pocket, which he carries for 20 or so days. And even after they hatch, he incubates their babies until they are developed enough to swim out on their own. Then he gives birth to them one by one. All male seahorses do this. But, I think they are the only males who do. As my due date approaches, the reality of giving birth and not knowing exactly what to expect except general pain lurks like a sea monster in dark waters. A little part of me wishes I could pass this part of becoming a parent onto my partner.