The pot-bellied seahorse, also known as the big-belly seahorse is one of the largest species of seahorse in the world.
Pot-bellied sea horse (Hippocampus abdominalis), Toronto Zoo.
Pot-bellied seahorses in the wild live in the ocean around Australia and New Zealand.
Like all sea horses the pot-bellied seahorse has a prehensile tail that the sea horse can use to grab onto something and anchor itself to various object, most often seaweed.
Sea horses have a rather unusual way to reproduce: It is the male who gets pregnant when the female lays her eggs into his pouch. The offspring then develops there fed by the male’s body and after about a 30 day pregnancy the father gives birth to a brood of hundreds of miniature sea horses that look just like their parents.
Some people like to keep sea horses, among them pot-bellied seahorses as pets. In an aquarium setting sea horses need to be fed almost continuously with tiny crustaceans, and care must be taken that other tankmates let them eat.
Pot-bellied seahorses can be bred in captivity and the offspring can be raised.
Further Readings:
Pot-bellied seahorse on the Toronto Zoo website.
Big-belly seahorse on ARKive.
Pot-bellied Seahorse on the Encyclopedia of Life.
Seahorse.org – Care Guide.