The seahorse is a type of fish with a face that vaguely resembles the face of a horse. With its curly tail, delicate features and horse-like face, this fantastic creature is a favorite among girls and woman as a tattoo design.
Too Cute to be True: Seahorse Tattoos
The seahorse is an unusual creature in that it seems to belong on another planet, instead of in the seas of Earth. When the sea horse was first discovered by early scientists, it earned itself the name Hippocampus. In Ancient Greek, hippos means horse and kampos means sea monster. This little horsey sea monster has intrigued and delighted biologists and nature enthusiasts for centuries, and has been celebrated in art in paintings and sculpture and as decoration for household objects such as vases and crockery. Seahorse designs aren’t just nice to look at, they also have a deeper meaning, which means that they have a place in body art as symbolic tattoos.
Seahorse tattoos are easily recognizable, because no other creature has a silhouette quite like the outline of a seahorse. With its long snout, shapely jaw, bulbous stomach and curled tail, seahorses are easy to spot even when they have been inked into a larger tattoo design. The seahorse has a fin on its back that has inspired many tattoo designers to get creative, replacing this fin with bird wings, butterfly wings or fairy wings, although the seahorse doesn’t need much creative help to look beautiful.
An unusual species of seahorse is the sea dragon. These seahorses have evolved fins that mimic the leaves of seaweed and drift around the sea in clumps of seaweed. Sea dragons are rare and difficult to spot. Divers and swimmers who have seen this special creature are often so moved by its delicate grace that they are inspired to get a tattoo of this beautiful seahorse.
The Meaning of Seahorse Tattoos