The Pregnant Barbigant Seahorses
This Barbigant seahorse is a male who is pregnant. You can’t tell from this photograph, but they only grow to a maximum of three-quarters of an inch long. Photographer Nicholas More captured this stunning photo in Bali. The way this species survives is by mimicking the colors of the host they grip on to, in this case, a pink sea fan. They gestate for two weeks before giving birth to tiny, live young. Out of 35 species of seahorses, scientists only consider around 11 of them vulnerable. One species is endangered, one is near threatened, and two as least concerned. This is due to habitat change and climate change. Seahorses are often accidentally captured by fishing nets intended to capture shrimp (Project Sea Horse).