The average life expectancy of seahorses is from 4 to 6 years. However, many species are threatened with extinction due to excessive fishing. In particular, more than 20 million skates are caught every year for the needs of traditional Chinese medicine. Other factors that negatively affect their abundance are pollution of the oceans and degradation of coral reefs.
Newborn seahorses look like miniature copies of their parents, do not need their help and immediately go on an independent journey. The first weeks of their lives they drift aimlessly along with the plankton and are vulnerable to many predators. Less than one in a hundred avoids the fate of becoming someone’s prey and reaches maturity.
Many people have a sea horse associated with the southern seas and hot countries, but they are not such pampered animals. They are found not only in the tropics, but also off the coast of Great Britain and Eastern Canada. Even in the Black and Azov Seas, where water is not salty enough for most tropical fish, one can find one of the seahorse species.
