Lisa Boccia, age 12, of St. Catharines, Ont., Canada, for her question:     

WHICH IS THE BIGGEST SEAHORSE?

Seahorses like warm, weedy waters  which is why we find most of them off our southern Atlantic and Pacific shores. However, some of their close relatives live as far north as Nova Scotia. The newborn babies are smaller than your little fingernail. Those that survive the hazards of the sea grow to be about four or five inches long. Some of these are seven inches, but they are not the giants of the clan.

The largest true seahorse lives off the southern tip of California and as far south as Peru. He grows to be one foot long. Australia's leafy sea dragon is a seahorse cousin who also reaches a length of one foot.

He wears a lot of leafy scarves that blend with the floating seaweeds. The smallest known seahorse is a two inch dwarf who enjoys life in the warm waters off Florida.