Science Book Club - "The Curious World of Seahorses" by Till Hein

The group meets at 1 p.m. to discuss "The Curious World of Seahorses: The Life and Lore of a Marine Marvel" by Till Hein.

Masters of disguise, graceful dancers, and romantic lovers, seahorses are found not only in the seagrass meadows and mangroves of the world, but also throughout the annals of human history and culture—surfacing everywhere from chess and Greek mythology to Disney movies like The Little Mermaid and Pokémon games.

Equipped with a pouch like a kangaroo, a long snout like an anteater, and complete with a crown unique as a human fingerprint, the seahorse defies easy categorization. The only fish to swim in an upright position, seahorses are terrible swimmers, but they make up for it with an incredible talent for holding onto seagrass or coral. They have no stomach or teeth—only intestines. Most seahorses are monogamous, and meet with their life partner every few weeks to perform a dance that can last up to nine hours. The most unique aspect of the seahorse is their reproductive cycle, as it is the male of the species who becomes pregnant.