IntroductionIn an article titled Seahorse Power, journalist Andrew Seale states that seahorses have sparked human curiosity for centuries. The seahorse's first appearance dates back to ancient Greece where it appeared on scrolls and in Victorian seaside tales. The hippocampus of the human brain resembles that of a seahorse. (Seale, 2012). The common seahorse (Hippocampus kuda) is called estuary; yellow and spotted seahorse. Seahorses have horse-shaped heads, armored bodies, curved trunks, and prehensile tails. It is estimated that there are around 35 to 40 species of seahorses. Seahorses can be found at local aquariums, pet stores, or even a gift shop where they are dead and dried to sell as souvenirs. The common seahorse is a member of the family Syngnathidae, which also includes pipefish and sea dragons (Tacio, 2010). Helen Scales states that seahorses exhibit "a range of unusual biological characteristics, including male pregnancy and apparently widespread monogamy (Scales, 2010). » Conservation status The common seahorse is listed as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. list.RangeOne can find the common seahorse throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, Japan, and even Hawaii. According to National Geographic, H. kuda inhabits shallow tropical and temperate waters around the world (National Geographic, n.d.). Shallow coastal areas.HabitatCommon seahorses are generally found in shallow coastal areas with an average depth of zero to eight meters, but seahorses have been found at depths lower than fifty-five meters. They inhabit mangroves, coastal seagrass beds, estuaries, and coastal bays. lagoons, ports... middle of paper ......ippocampus_kuda/Rosa, IL, Oliveira, TP, Osorio, FM, Moraes, LE, Castro, AL, Barros, GM, & Avles, RR (2011 ). Seahorse fishing and trade in Brazil: historical perspective, current trends and future directions. Biodiversity and Conservation, 20(9), 1951-1971. doi:10.1007/s10531-011-0068-2 Seale, A. (2012). Seahorse power. Alternatives Journal, 38(5), 36-39. Scales, H. (2010). Advances in the ecology, biogeography and conservation of seahorses (genus Hippocampus). Progress in Physical Geography, 34(4), 443-458. doi:10.1177/0309133310364928The Seahorse Trust (2010). Facts about seahorses. Accessed May 5, 2014, from http://www.theseahorsetrust.org/seahorse-facts.aspx-Tacio, H. (May 30, 2010). Economic and health benefits of seahorse. Star of the Sun [Davao], p. 1. Retrieved from http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/nomic-and-health-benefits-seahorse