Adult Longsnouted seahorse
The long-snouted
seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) is a species of fish in the Syngnathidae family.
The long-snouted
seahorse is also referred to as the spiny seahorse and is native to the northeast Atlantic, including the Mediterranean.
Long-snouted seahorses live in shallow, sheltered waters, hiding amidst seaweed and sea-grass. Their reproduction is interesting, with females depositing the eggs in a pouch in the male's abdomen, where he incubates them for 5 weeks.
At the end of this time, the pouch repeatedly contracts until the small completely formed hatchlings are released.