Seahorse is the name given to small marine fishes in the genus Hippocampus. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek "hippokampos", a compound word from "hippos" meaning "horse" and "kampos" meaning "sea monster". The Ancient Greeks and Romans believed that seahorses were incarnations of the sea god Poseidon and as such, they were considered a symbol of strength and power. According to Mythology, the Greek sea god Poseidon crossed the oceans on a golden chariot pulled by hippocampus, the creature that was half horse and half fish.
Seahorses are globally found in shallow tropical and temperate saltwater. They prefer to live in sheltered areas such as sea grass beds, estuaries and coral reefs. This doesn’t seem to be the case with the area of Stratoni, in Chalcidice. While it is rare to find seahorses on Greek coasts, a colony of seahorses has been detected in Stratoni region in Chalcidice, since almost a decade. The seaside there is considered unique, due to its stable and continued population of seahorses, despite the lack of seabed plants, which are essential to the species' evolution. Considering this undersea surprise, many questions arose. One thing is sure though, specialized professionals are doing their absolute best to protect the species involved in this marvelous mystery.
