No Horsing Around: Seahorses and Their Critical Role in the Ecosystem
by Sarah Robison
The Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center educates guests on seahorses, pipefish, and Tampa Bay Watch’s restoration work and research in partnership with Project Seahorse. As an indicator species, seahorse populations play a critical role in our ecosystem and let us know about the health status of the bay.
Seahorses at the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center are housed with pipefish, their closest relatives. Seahorses inhabit shallow tropical and temperate salt water around the world and live in naturally sheltered areas like the seagrass beds, estuaries, coral reefs, and mangroves. They have the ability to camouflage with their environment due to their adaptive nature which helps them avoid predation. Did you know seahorses are the only species of animal to have the males carry unborn young? Thousands of eggs are produced at once, and shielded from the effects of extreme conditions. Seahorses are a critical part of food webs and many other species depend on them, including coral reefs and various fish. Seahorses are primary consumers, and like to eat small crustaceans, like amphipods. By eating small organisms like plankton and krill, seahorses help to regulate food competition for resources among other animals.
Seahorses also help in indicating water quality and are particularly sensitive to water pollution. The presence of seahorses can let us know if there are potential toxins present in the ocean, and if there are specific areas where habitat destruction is a factor. Unfortunately, seahorses are generally classified as a vulnerable species, and their threats include human activities and environmental changes that negatively affect their success.
How can you help seahorses? Visiting the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center is a start! By visiting, you're supporting the critical work of the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center and helping educate yourself on seahorses so you can help raise awareness. Seeing seahorses in action helps us appreciate their presence in the ocean! Another way to help is by advocating for the slowing of climate change and taking actions to lessen your carbon footprint like using less nonrenewable sources and electing for reusable products like water bottles and cloth bags.
Seahorse populations and their habitats depend on coral reefs which are negatively affected by ocean acidification because of climate change. As corals bleach, losing their zooxanthellae and leaving a white skeleton behind, they can no longer be effective homes for seahorses. Using reef-safe sunscreen is a way to help aid in the health of coral habitats. Also, next time you’re visiting the ocean, be a responsible beachgoer by picking up your trash and leaving no trace. Seahorses depend on a stable environment for their growth and health, and are critical to the overall health of our ecosystem. Individual and collective conservation actions help seahorse populations stick around for many years to come!
Sarah Robison is an animal husbandry intern at the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center, where she assists with the hands-on care, feeding, maintenance, and stimulation of diverse native and nonnative animals. She was born and raised in Tampa, Florida and continues to develop her interest in animal studies and conservation biology while studying biology and sustainability on the pre-veterinary track and running an environmental conservation organization for youth.
