Were you all loved up this Valentine’s Day or are you still searching for your Mr or Mrs Right?

Whichever applies to you, we can all learn something from the enigmatic seahorse, one of the few monogamous marine animals. There are two species of seahorse native to Dorset, the Short-snouted seahorse and the Spiny seahorse (also called the Long-snouted seahorse), which sometimes live alongside each other. They have been recorded in Poole Bay, Poole Harbour, Studland Bay, Swanage Bay, Portland Harbour and the Fleet Lagoon, in Weymouth Bay and Lyme Bay. In fact Dorset is quite a hotspot for seahorses! Studland Bay and Poole Harbour are known breeding sites for these species with pregnant males having been found there.

Of course seahorses are famous for the fact that it is the males that give birth, something that is unique in the animal kingdom to this group of fish. During the spring and summer following their birth, seahorses start to look out for a mate. Once they have selected a partner they remain faithful to them for at least the rest of that year, possibly for life. They each live independently in a small, over-lapping territory on the seabed but each day they meet up and perform a ritual greeting to reaffirm their bond. This involves entwining their prehensile tails, which is their version of holding hands. They then spend fifteen minutes or so promenading and dancing an elaborate ballet, sometimes face to face, side by side or back to back, tossing their heads and pirouetting while always maintaining contact. At the same time the seahorses become flushed with colour, a blush to indicate an attraction.

When the ritual is finished the two go their separate ways. If the male is not yet pregnant, the female implants her eggs into his brood pouch where they are fertilised and develop, provided with all the nutrients they need in a similar way to a mammalian pregnancy. Prior to giving birth, the fluid inside the brood pouch changes to become more saline to acclimatise the young for life in sea water. When the father is in labour, the baby seahorses are squirted out in batches by contractions of his pouch, and left to fend for themselves, drifting and feeding on plankton in the surface waters for a time. The father can become pregnant again almost immediately and the pair can produce several broods during the summer months while the water is at the optimal temperature.

The intimacy of seahorses and the similarities to our own behaviour when it comes to love and courtship is endearing and it is charming to think that love is blossoming under the sea just along our coast. You can find out more about Dorset’s seahorses and their wildlife community at dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/Studland and you can Adopt a Seahorse and help with marine conservation in Dorset at dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/seahorseadoption

By Julie Hatcher

Marine Awareness Officer