Monday, February 18, 2013

Seahorse

Waters surrounding Ocracoke are alive with creatures great & small, and common and exotic. The seahorse is one of those fish both small and exotic.

Photo by Jonathan Zander
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 Yes, the seahorse is a true fish, a close relative of pipefish, though it swims upright, and exhibits other peculiarities. Seahorses spend much of their lives clinging to seaweed and eel grass with their tails, and the female deposits her eggs (one thousand or more) in a male's brood pouch, where they are inseminated. The fertilized eggs develop in the pouch, then hatch in about a month.

I have seen seahorses swimming languidly in the shallow waters of Silver Lake harbor, near the Community Square. And beachcombers occasionally find them washed up with the tide on the ocean beach.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of windmills on Ocracoke. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news012113.htm.

2 comments:

  1. The little things you see from time to time are the best! It reminds me of a time when i was youg and first saw, what I was told, was a sea cucumber on Figure Eight a little south of OI I haven't seen many since, but I'm always on the lookout. If you take the time... you get the reward.

    I don't get much of a chance to post comments, but I want you to know that I read every, single, day! A couple of times you posted later in the morning... I was concerned you had caught the flu or something.

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  2. Anonymous10:48 AM

    Does OI have universal preschool for seahorse hatchlings?

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