Newborn seahorse, SEM

Newborn seahorse. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a young seahorse (Hippocampus sp.). The seahorse is a fish that swims upright using its pectoral fins (upper right) and dorsal fin (lower centre). A young seahorse develops in one of hundreds of eggs that the female deposits in the male's pouch. The eggs hatch after 2-6 weeks. A seahorse sucks up tiny shrimps, fish larvae and tiny crustaceans through its tube-like mouth (upper centre). It can moor itself to plants or coral using its prehensile tail (lower left). Seahorses range in length from 2-40 centimetres, inhabiting temperate and tropical seas worldwide. Magnification: x20 at 6x7cm size.

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Keywords: animal, aquatic, baby, bony fish, coloured, cut out, cut-out, cutout, fin, hatched, hatchling, hippocampus sp, juvenile, marine, nature, newborn, pisces, plankton, planktonic grazer, prehensile, scanning electron micrograph, seahorse, sem, tail, wildlife, young, zoology