Hippocampus - It’s the only fish that holds your hand!
The Tiger Tail Seahorse (Hippocampus comes)
Usually found in coral reefs, in Singapore, mainly around the Southern Islands.
The genus epithet 'Hippocampus' stems from greek mythology referring to a mythical creature with the head and forequarters of a horse and the tail of dolphin or a fish, on which sea gods rode . In greek, 'hippos' means horse while 'campus' means sea-monster!
Tiger tail seahorses are mainly found in coral reefs, sponges and seagrasses, at a depth of 10-20 m . Juveniles prefer to live amongst macroalgal habitats such as Sargassum and move to corals and sponges upon maturation.
They form partnerships that are sexually monogamous, accepting eggs only from one female. Female seahorses may have remained faithful to the same partner because finding a new mate would be time-consuming in a population with widespread pairing, and would also be energetically costly and dangerous in terms of predation and physical damage.
