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Big-Belly Seahorse

Big-Belly Seahorse line art illustration (click image to enlarge)

Big-Belly Seahorse full color illustration (click image to enlarge)

Artist's notes:

The Big-Belly Seahorse was completed on 3.16.2011. The drawing is based on a photo by Charlene SJ (although only partially, the lower half of the seahorse was mostly invented. It seems odd, only a few weeks ago I had only one seahorse, now with the Big-Belly, I'm up to four (Dwarf, Common and Thorny being the others.) I hope to add the Pacific Seahorse at some point too.

Information about the Big-Belly Seahorse:

The Big-Belly or Pot-Bellied Seahorse is one of the largest of the seahorses in the world. It can grown up to about 13.5 inches long (35 cm) compared to the smallest - the Dwarf Seahorse - that is only about 2 inches long. They're native to the coastal waters of Australia and New Zealand. Because of their size, these fish are often used in traditional Chinese medicine, for a host of human ailments, although there is precious little evidence they actually help as they're supposed to, and removal of them from their environments just does damage and harms the species. Unlike other seahorses, Hippocampus abdominalis is a fairly strong swimmer. The pot-bellied seahorse diet consists mainly of crustaceans such as shrimp. They will also eat different kind of small fishes, so long as they fit through the narrow snout of the animal. They are also popular aquarium fish.