Hippocampus erectus
The Lined Seahorse can grow to seven inches and has a wide range of colors including brown, orange, yellow or red. It has a series of white dots in a line down its body giving it its name. Instead of fish scales the seahorse has skin stretched over boney armor. It swims slowly in an upright position, having only a dorsal fin for propulsion.
They prefer depths of 2 to 230 feet of water. They are often found
clinging to aquatic vegetation or man-made objects with their prehensile tail. Seahorses have no teeth and feed on very small animals and plants. These are sucked into the mouth which is at the end of the snout, and swallowed whole.
The Lined Seahorse mates with a single partner. After a courtship performance, the female deposits 250 to 650 eggs into the male’s brood pouch. The male seals the pouch and fertilizes the eggs. A Capillary network oxygenates the eggs which hatch in 20 days. Juvenile seahorses emerge as miniature replicas of the adults and swim freely away.
Live shells should never be taken from any Florida State Park.