Marin Science Seminar Presentation: “Seahorses: Amazing, Threatened Fishes of the Coastal Oceans” Seahorses have done more to change the body plan of a fish than any other fish in the sea. With their upright posture, horse-like heads, monkey-like tails, effective camouflage, and amazing behaviors like pair bonding dances and true male pregnancy, seahorses are some of the world’s most incredible fish. Although humans have long been fascinated by seahorses, we know relatively little about them – we don’t know how many species there are, or how they are distributed, or how they evolved from other fishes.  Seahorses live in the world’s coastal oceans, one of our planet’s most threatened habitats. In this presentation, Academy scientist Dr. Healy Hamilton will introduce the world of seahorses and their relatives, and explain how her lab uses techniques of DNA sequencing and analysis to help answer questions about seahorses that are needed to conserve them. (December 8, 2010) Get the flyer here.

Dr. Hamilton grew up in San Rafael, the daughter of Lee Ross, a local environmentalist. She completed her Ph.D. in Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley. Dr. Hamilton heads the Center for Biodiversity Research and Information at the California Academy of Sciences, and serves as adjunct professor in the Department of Geography at San Francisco State University. Her interests range from researching the effects of climate change on biodiversity to the evolution and conservation of cetaceans and seahorses. Among her latest expeditions was a trip to New Caledonia to find seahorses, pipehorses, and pipefish for genetic analysis.