Wonderful Things, Part 3

This addition to my list of wonderful things is a little strange. it's more of a poncy, arty, spiritual side of me that finds them fascinating, however i'll try best to explain myself.

This is a seahorse. i think they are truly incredible beings. here's some information on seahorses, for those that are not familiar with the species:

1. 
   
   Seahorses are, in fact, fish. they reside in the same family as pipefish.
2. 
   
   Their latin name, Hippocampus, means "horse caterpillar".
3. 
   
   Their eyes work individually, much the same as a chameleon. this means they can look forward AND backward, at the same time.
4. 
   
   Seahorses eat small crustaceans, such as mysis shrimp. they will consume around 30-50 of these a day. Youngsters, however, will consume around 6000 food items a day. i'd imagine it's because they are much smaller food items, but still. incredible.

It is the last fact, however, that draws me to them. They mate for life, and courtship involves colour changes and also a dance where the pair will circle around one another, and/or an object.

now, this bit's amazing, so i'm going to quote it straight from the Seahorse Trust website.

"The male is the only creature where the male has a true reversed pregnancy. The female transfers her eggs to the male which he self fertilises in his pouch. The number of eggs can vary from 50-150 for smaller species to 1500 for larger species.
They receive everything they need in the pouch from oxygen to food. Gestation time varies from 14 days to 4 weeks. Giving birth can be a long process with contractions lasting upto 12 hours."

Now if that isn't wonderful, i don't know what is. It's the ultimate androgynism. I think that's why i'm fond of them. I'll probably regret saying this, but it'd be nice to share the workload every once in a while, and give girls the opportunity to have a breather from this whole maternal childbirth dealio.

That's all for now, folks. More wonderful things coming soon.