What Is The Slowest Fish In The World?
Birds got to fly while fish got to swim, this line is from a Broadway production. While this may be about love as sweet as it is, this is not entirely true. Some birds do not have the capability to fly like ostriches and penguins, and some fishes, are let’s say can swim, but not in the regular swimming capacity.
What is the slowest fish in the world? The slowest fish is a dwarf seahorse. A dwarf seahorse swims at about 0.01 mph. There are typically found in the shallow tropical and temperate waters all over the world.
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In this article, you will find about the slowest fish in the world and their way of living. Let’s get into it.
Dwarf Seahorse
A dwarf seahorse is considered to be the third smallest seahorse species in the world. It usually is found in the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Coast of Florida, and the Caribbean. They are mostly known as pygmy seahorses or sometimes little seahorses because of their size.
Anatomy Of A Dwarf Seahorse
When you look at a dwarf seahorse, you might need to take a second look as they only have a maximum length of 2 inches. Like most seahorses species, they have a different color form, varying from tan to green and to almost black. Their skin has tiny warts, dark spots and may be mottled. These seahorses feature a short snout and a coronet at the top of their head. Also, they have some filaments from their head throughout their body.
Dwarf seahorses can be distinguished by their 9 to 10 bony rings around their trunk and 31-32 rings that can be found in their tail.
Habitat and Distribution
Dwarf seahorses can be found in shallow waters, usually within seagrasses. They can be spotted when there are seagrasses in your area. They can also be found in different floating vegetation.
Slow, And Not Steady
If you are aware of how seahorses swim, they are quite unsettling. It is why they are considered to be the slowest swimmers of all. It takes them everything to be able to do the aerodynamics nature that can only be done underwater.
Dwarf seahorse lacks the talent to be fast in their swimming capability. It is why experts have listed them to be the slowest fish under the deep blue sea with an average speed of 152 centimeters per hour. Take a look at the black marlin. They are one of the fastest fish ever recorded, with an average speed of 129 kilometers per hour. You can imagine how slow they can be.
Conclusion
To conclude, dwarf seahorses’ unique body shape makes them the slowest fishes in the sea but, do not judge the book by its cover. They are incredibly fast predators as long as the waters around them are. Still, they can strike in one millisecond. Do not take them lightly as they serve a purpose as they are important predators on the bottom-dwelling organisms, removing them in the picture can disrupt entire ecosystems.
