Over the Christmas period a visitor found something a bit unusual washed up on the beach at our Arne reserve. It was a Seahorse!

Seahorses actually breed in the sea grass meadows off Studland Bay and are being specially protected and monitored. This seahorse must have come from Studland Bay and somehow ended up on Arne beach. It was handed to Graham, one of our volunteers, and he took it to the Seahorse Trust at Ottery St Mary.

There are two species of seahorse in British waters, the short snouted and spiny seahorse. This one was a short snouted seahorse and was a male because it had an egg pouch. Seahorses are in fact fish and are unique in that the males undergo a true pregnancy. The females pass unfertilised eggs to the male’s egg pouch where they are fertilised and develop until the male gives birth by contractions.

Short snouted seahorses can grow up to 15cm so at 8cm long this one was quite small and wasn’t pregnant at the time.

If you ever find a seahorse washed up on the beach let us know because each sighting can give important information about the population in Studland Bay and we will pass it on to the Seahorse Trust.

Based on information supplied by .