This is the moment baby seahorses are observed behind the scenes at the Shedd Aquarium in the US city of Chicago.

The Shedd Aquarium is an indoor aquatic animal aquarium in the city of Chicago located in the US state of Illinois which was opened on May 30, 1930 and was the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater fish collection.

It is home to over 32,000 animals which belong to 1,500 different species out of which some are seahorses.

In contrast to the scientific name for the seahorse genus which is Hippocampus and comes from ancient Greek words meaning “horse” and “monster”, these little creatures are actually fish and form the family Syngnathidae along with pipefish and sea dragons.

Seahorses can mainly be found in shallow tropical and temperate salt water throughout the world in sheltered areas such as seagrass beds, estuaries, coral reefs and mangroves.

Additionally a peculiar fact about seahorses is that the male seahorse is the one carrying the offspring and giving birth. They usually get pregnant and carry the female’s eggs in their pouches until they give birth in an explosion of miniature adults.

Male seahorses can have hundreds of babies at a time, which are on their own after their birth and can be as tiny as an eyelash at the moment when they are born.

A seahorse newborn is called a ‘fry’ and it can sometimes be very challenging to raise due to its size and stage of development at birth.

Johnny Ford, Head of Public Relations at Shedd Aquarium in the US city of Chicago in Illinois said: “We have a number of baby seahorses living behind the scenes at the aquarium, as they are born in quite large numbers.”

Ford who is also an Assistant Director at Shedd added: “They eat small live foods like shrimp and crustaceans cultured at the aquarium.”

Mark Schick, Director of Exhibit Development said: “You would never think of them as predators, but they are one of the most efficient in the sea. With their slow-moving, camouflaged bodies they like in wait for the small crustaceans they hunt.”

Seahorses are one of the few fish that mate for life, performing a sort of dance every day in order to renew their bonds.