Forget Sharknado. The scariest thing to come out of the ocean recently is a video capturing the stealthy advance and attack of a seahorse.
The video came about during research on whether the shape of a seahorse's head changes its hydrodynamic profile (it does). The animal's creeping, shadowy profile hunting unsuspecting potential snacks is the stuff of nightmares.
But the video also demonstrates how the dwarf seahorse Hippocampus zosterae, and other members of its family, advance on prey with minimal water disruption. The shape of its head and its stealthy pre-attack posture allow the seahorse to achieve what the researchers call "hydrodynamic silence," meaning it avoids stirring up the water as it moves, a disturbance that would be detected by its prey.
Seahorses typically feed in seagrass or other sheltered environments with minimal water turbulence. Their prey, fast-moving crustaceans called copepods, are sensitive to any motion in the water.
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