Seahorse question

[DavidPT40]

A while back, I was watching a television show that said that a certain type of seahorse was more closely related to shrimp than to fish. However, all the websites I've visited say that seahorses are fish, not shrimp.

So, are there any seahorses that are closer to shrimp than to fish? If not, are there any shrimp that look like seahorses?

 

[agilis]

Seahorses are a fish, all of them, every variety in existence. They are an oddly shaped fish, some more than others, but all have gills and fins, and are absolutely, positively fish. Some have body projections that help them to blend in with weedy backgrounds, but they have no connection or relationship with shrimp, just as they are not related to horses.


QUOTE=DavidPT40]A while back, I was watching a television show that said that a certain type of seahorse was more closely related to shrimp than to fish. However, all the websites I've visited say that seahorses are fish, not shrimp.

So, are there any seahorses that are closer to shrimp than to fish? If not, are there any shrimp that look like seahorses?[/QUOTE]

 

[riddler]

A while back, I was watching a television show that said that a certain type of seahorse was more closely related to shrimp than to fish. However, all the websites I've visited say that seahorses are fish, not shrimp.

So, are there any seahorses that are closer to shrimp than to fish? If not, are there any shrimp that look like seahorses?

This is where it really helps to take the time to understand the taxonomy charts. Seahorse taxonomy changes a lot more than most, but I think it still currently resides under:

Domain Eukaryota (basically, not bacteria)
Kingdom Animalia (animals)
Phylum Chordata (Chordates, 'spinal chord' bearing)
Subphylum Pisces (Fish)
Superclass Gnathostomata (Jawed fish)
Class Osteichthyes (Bony fish e.g. cod and mackerel)
Subclass Teleostei (Teleosts)
Order Syngnathiformes (Pipefish and seahorses)
Family Syngnathidae (Pipefish and seahorses)
Genus Hippocampus

Whereas shrimp taxonomy looks like:

Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Caridea
Superfamily: Pandaloidea
Family: Pandalidae
Genus: Physetocaris

So you can see that seahorses and shrimp differ all the way up in their phylum - seahorses have spinal chords and shrimp are athropods. That makes them very different.

 

[marku]

Seahorses (and the rest of their family whom share the same tube-like mouth) feed on tiny shrimp; that's the only way I know they're associated w/ each other. Seahorses wait for the shrimp (mysid shrimps, I think) to swim by them then they suck them up.