Are seahorses, which belong to the order Gasterosteiformes, mammals? Habitat, diet, and medicinal effects

Seahorse, is the collective name for several species of small warm-sea fish in the family Syngnathidae, order Gasterosteiformes. They are distributed in the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, the Pacific Ocean, and Australia. So, where do seahorses live? What food do they eat? Are they mammals? What medicinal effects do they have?

1. Where do seahorses live?

In natural sea areas, seahorses usually prefer to live in the gentle currents of coral reefs, because they are not good at swimming, so they often use their tails, which are suited for grasping, to tightly hook onto the branches of coral and the blades of seaweed, fixing their bodies in place so they are not swept away by strong currents. Most species of pipefish live at the junction of estuaries and the sea, so they can adapt to seawater areas of different salinities and can even survive in fresh water. Seahorses and pipefish have very small mouths and are only suited to feeding on live bait, and since they are not good at swimming, they cannot capture prey swiftly.

2. What food do seahorses eat?

Seahorses swallow food by the expansion and movement of the gill covers and snout, and the size of the bait should not exceed the diameter of the snout. They show a certain selectivity toward the type and freshness of the bait. The foraging visual range of seahorses is only about 1 m, so bait should be placed where they often gather. In natural sea areas, seahorses mainly feed on small crustaceans, mainly copepods, barnacle larvae of the cirripede group, larvae and adults of shrimp species, mysid shrimp, opossum shrimp, and gammarid shrimp. Under artificial rearing conditions, feeding on opossum shrimp and cherry shrimp gives the best results, followed by copepods and amphipods. Freshwater cladocerans can also be eaten, but care should be taken to avoid them dying rapidly in seawater and thereby polluting the water quality.

3. Are seahorses mammals?

Seahorses are not mammals. Seahorses live in water throughout their lives, breathe with gills, swim with fins, and reproduce by laying eggs. Their heads resemble a horse, their tails resemble a monkey's, their eyes resemble a chameleon's, and they also have a snout, with a body like an angular wood carving. Therefore, seahorses belong to the fish category and are a type of small marine animal.

4. What medicinal effects do seahorses have?

Seahorse is a precious traditional Chinese medicine with relatively high economic value, possessing medicinal functions such as strengthening the body, tonifying the kidney and enhancing yang, relaxing muscles and activating collaterals, reducing inflammation and relieving pain, calming the mind and soothing the nerves, and relieving cough and asthma. It is especially effective for treating diseases of the nervous system and has been highly favored by people since ancient times, with men being especially fond of it. In addition to being mainly used to make various synthetic medicines, seahorses can also be taken directly to strengthen the body and treat illnesses.