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I am a seahorse and I live in an aquarium. My head is like that of a horse. My body is hard and it is covered with thin bony plates. I swim in an upright position, beating my dorsal fin. When I want to change direction, I merely have to turn my head. |
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Normally, we live in the sea, near the shore. When we are looking food, we can stay completely still. The movement of our eyes is the only thing that betray us. If we want to go unnoticed, we change colour: when we are among green seaweed, we change into green. |
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My scientific name is Hippocampus hippocampus, and I was born in the Mediterranean Sea. When our breeding season arrives, we, male seahorses, start preparing our pouches. Females force their eggs into our pouches. Males have to protect and keep the eggs until the babies are born. |
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This is a male seahorse with its pouch full of eggs. During labour, we hold on tight to seaweed. We expel our babies through an opening in our pouches. We can have over two hundred babies at the same time. |
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This male seahorse is expelling its babies. |
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As you can see, we have a very peaceful life in the aquarium: We spend the day moving about very slowly. |
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