Scientists now know the secrets to one of the world's least understood fish – the seahorse. Researchers worked out the genetic map of the tiger tail seahorse. Scientists can now find out why seahorses are so different to other fish. They have no teeth. Male seahorses carry babies and give birth to them instead of females. Also, seahorses do not swim forwards and sideways like other fish; they swim vertically (up and down).
Seahorses started to get their unusual shape about 100 million years ago. They began to look like the neck and head of a horse. There are 54 different seahorses. The scientific name for a seahorse is Hippocampus. This word comes from the Ancient Greek words hippos ('horse') and kampos ('sea monster'). The word 'seahorse' can be written as two separate words (sea horse), or with a dash (sea-horse).
