| MadSci Network: Zoology |
Hi Ashley-
I'm Sorry about the delay in getting an answer for you- I wasn't able to find any measurements of seahorse weights in the library, or on the web, and had to resort to trying to get in touch with a few scientists who work on Seahorses. I believe this happens to be the time of the year when most Seahorse researchers are off studying their Seahorses, and I had some trouble finding someone who wasn't away! Luckily, after a few tries, I received a reply from Dr. Rod Connolly, of Griffith University in Queensland, Australia.
Dr. Connolly writes: "As a general rule of thumb, they weigh about 2 g." If you're not into metric units, 2 grams translates to 0.07 ounces, which is slightly more than 1/14th of an ounce. However, Dr. Connolly also cautions that that number is for the dry weight of seahorses, which is what they weigh after they've been removed from the water and dried out. When alive and in the water, Dr. Connolly suggests that they will weigh about 10 times their dry weight. That would have a live Seahorse weighing in at around 20 grams (or 0.7 ounces, a little under 3/4 of an ounce). I italicized the word around to emphasize that you should only regard that as an approximate number: it will be quite different between different types of Seahorses.
I hope that helps!
Rob Campbell, MAD Scientist
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Zoology.