<P> Seahorses swim very poorly, rapidly fluttering a dorsal fin and using pectoral fins (located behind their eyes) to steer . The slowest - moving fish in the world is H. zosterae (the dwarf seahorse), with a top speed of about 5 ft (1.5 m) per hour . Since they are poor swimmers, they are most likely to be found resting with their prehensile tails wound around a stationary object . They have long snouts, which they use to suck up food, and their eyes can move independently of each other like those of a chameleon . </P> <P> Anatomical evidence, supported by molecular, physical, and genetic evidence, demonstrates seahorses are highly modified pipefish . The fossil record of seahorses, however, is very sparse . The best known and best studied fossils are specimens of H. guttulatus (though literature more commonly refers to them under the synonym of H. ramulosus), from the Marecchia River Formation of Rimini Province, Italy, dating back to the Lower Pliocene, about 3 million years ago . The earliest known seahorse fossils are of two pipefish - like species, H. sarmaticus and H. slovenicus from the coprolitic horizon of Tunjice Hills, a middle Miocene lagerstätte in Slovenia dating back about 13 million years . Molecular dating finds that pipefish and seahorses diverged during the Late Oligocene . This has led to speculation that seahorses evolved in response to large areas of shallow water, newly created as the result of tectonic events . The shallow water would have allowed the expansion of seagrass habitats that selected for the camouflage offered by the seahorses' upright posture . These tectonic changes occurred in the western Pacific Ocean, pointing to an origin there, with molecular data suggesting two later, separate invasions of the Atlantic Ocean . In 2016, a study published in Nature found the seahorse genome to be the most rapidly evolving fish genome studied so far . </P> <P> The male seahorse is equipped with a pouch on the ventral, or front - facing, side of the tail . When mating, the female seahorse deposits up to 1,500 eggs in the male's pouch . The male carries the eggs for 9 to 45 days until the seahorses emerge fully developed, but very small . The young are then released into the water, and the male often mates again within hours or days during the breeding season . </P> <P> Before breeding, seahorses may court for several days . Scientists believe the courtship behavior synchronizes the animals' movements and reproductive states so the male can receive the eggs when the female is ready to deposit them . During this time, they may change color, swim side by side holding tails or grip the same strand of sea grass with their tails, and wheel around in unison in what is known as a "predawn dance". They eventually engage in a "true courtship dance" lasting about 8 hours, during which the male pumps water through the egg pouch on his trunk which expands and opens to display its emptiness . When the female's eggs reach maturity, she and her mate let go of any anchors and drift upward snout - to - snout, out of the seagrass, often spiraling as they rise . They interact for about 6 minutes, reminiscent of courtship . The female then swims away until the next morning, and the male returns to sucking up food through his snout . The female inserts her ovipositor into the male's brood pouch and deposits dozens to thousands of eggs . As the female releases her eggs, her body slims while his swells . Both animals then sink back into the seagrass and she swims away . </P>

Do male seahorses give birth to the babies
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