A seahorse is a small ocean fish with one of the strangest body shapes in the animal kingdom. Its head looks remarkably like a tiny horse's head, complete with a long snout, which is how it got its name. But instead of hooves and legs, it has a curled tail that grips seaweed or coral, and a body covered in bony plates rather than scales.

Seahorses swim upright, using a small fin on their back that flutters up to 35 times per second. They're not fast swimmers: a seahorse might take an hour to travel just 15 feet. They drift through shallow coastal waters, using their excellent camouflage to hide among sea plants while hunting for tiny shrimp and plankton.

Perhaps most remarkable is how seahorse babies are born. The female deposits her eggs into a special pouch on the male's belly, and he carries them until they hatch. When the babies are ready, the father seahorse goes into labor, releasing dozens or even hundreds of miniature seahorses into the water.

Seahorses have captivated human imagination for centuries, appearing in ancient Greek mythology as the creatures that pulled Poseidon's chariot through the ocean depths.