The Surprising Seahorseonly one of two species of fish to swim uprot the other being the racorishtubular and its head is horse-like its body covered, not with scales but withbony plates arranged in rings.2. It doesn't have teeth or a stomach, and sucks in food. Thefood passes through its digestive system so quickly that ithas to eat almost constantly (it can gobble up 3000 brineshrimps in a day).3. It is a poor swimmer and has to hold on to corals and seaarasses with its prehensile tail to avoid being swept away.meleon like, its eyes can look in two different directionsultaneously and it can change its colours to match itssurroundings from a dull white to a startling green, red orpurple.5. However, weirdest of all, it is the male seahorse that carriesthe eggs in a special brood pouch on his abdomen till theyoung are ready to emergel6. Seahorses cannot swim very fast because of their upright stance. Though they have dorsal finsand tiny ones near the back of their heads, these are small and of not much use in propelling themforward. This in spite of fluttering their dorsal fins a dizzying 35 times a second! Seahorses die ofexhaustion in stormy seas since they cannot battle rolling waters.Since they look so strange, seahorses have been harvested for use in traditional potions singancient times. Dried seahorses serve as talismans. The ash obtained by burning them is considera panacea for a number of human conditions and ailments ranging from baldness to rabies. Cerspecies of seahorse are on the brink of extinction in many parts of the world because of