The lined seahorse lives in the western Atlantic Ocean as far north as Canada and as far south as the Caribbean, Mexico, and Venezuela.

The lined seahorse is monogamous and performs ritual dances every morning to reestablish the bond with its mate.

The habitat of the lined seahorse is diminishing due to coastal growth and pollution, which ultimately is the cause of the decreasing population.

The lined seahorse is also used as Chinese medicine and is common in the aquarium trade, contributing to its "vulnerable" status.

[7] They have a broad color spectrum, ranging from black, grey, brown, and green, to orange, red, and yellow.

The prehensile tail consists of numerous rings and the first, third, fifth, seventh, and eleventh may protrude farther outward than the remaining.

The prehensile tail following the bony plates is utilized by the seahorse to grasp onto its environment composed of seaweed and coral.

[8][10] The lined seahorse range spans from the northern point of Nova Scotia, Canada, to the southern area of Venezuela in South America.

They can be found on the east coast of America in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, and the Carolinas, as well as in the waters surrounding Mexico and the Caribbean.

The lined seahorse is native to the following locations: Nova Scotia, Canada, United States, Bermuda, Cuba, Mexico (Veracruz, Yucatán), Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, and Venezuela.

[6] The habitat of the lined seahorse consists of marine vegetation, such as suspended Sargassum, seagrass, sponges, and mangroves.

Many lined seahorses experience temperature fluctuations during the daily tide cycles, the different seasons of each year, and due to precipitation or runoff.

A study showed that the highest survival and growth rate of juveniles occurred at 28 to 29 degrees Celsius in captivity.

[11] The lined seahorse utilizes its elongated snout in order to consume its prey, consisting primarily of minute crustaceans, mollusks, and zooplankton.

Unfortunately, some captive parental males have been known to cannibalize small number of its own fry, or juveniles, following its release into natural habitat.

A growing lined seahorse may feed continuously for up to ten hours a day, engulfing approximately 3,600 baby brine shrimp.

[9][10][12] The predators of the lined seahorse include crabs, rays, skates, seabirds, sharks, tuna, and dolphinfish.

Although their camouflage tactics reduce their risk of becoming prey, their poor swimming abilities increase their likelihood of being consumed by their predators, especially large fish.

[6][11] There are many parasites and infections known to affect the lined seahorse, including ciliates (Uronemamarinum), nematodes, fungi, myxosporidian, and microsporidians (Glugea heraldi).

[13] The monogamous characteristics of the lined seahorse include ritual dances with their partner that they perform every morning.

If a male or female lined seahorse should lose their partner for any reason, it takes time before they replace their mate.

[11] The lined seahorse propels its body forward with its dorsal and pectoral fins, which they move rapidly back and forth.

These fins are also utilized in directing their bodies throughout the water and beat twenty to thirty times per second, making them almost invisible at first glance.

The seahorses have a crown-like bony crest called a coronet located on the backside of their head at the edge of the skull.

When the time finally approaches, the male latches his prehensile tail onto a supportive object while he braces back and forth, until the developed seahorses escape from the pouch.

Soon after, the male seahorse inevitably floats to the surface, only to become easy prey in the marine food chain.

Despite being a popular seahorse for aquarium trade and Chinese medicine, it is only suspected that the species could be a potential candidate for commercial aquaculture.

[8] The ph value should remain between 8.1 and 8.4 and the specific gravity between 1.020 and 1.025.The lined seahorse is an easy going species and will not be a threat to other fish that could possibly be in an aquarium.