History of Monsters 356: The Monstrous Sea Horse

This sea horse, which we present here in an illustration drawn from life, was captured in the Tyrrhenian Sea near Civitavecchia in August 1562 and brought to Pope Pius IV. I found the following account written concerning it:

This sea horse had a face and head resembling a horse, except for its ears, which were shaped like those of a dragon. Its neck was long and furnished with thick hair that hung down like a mane. From the chest downward, the rest of its body tapered into a fish-like tail, shaped like a dolphin's tail and divided into two lobes. The color of the entire body was ash-gray, tending toward black.

There is another kind of sea horse described by Gyllius and others, which we shall discuss further on.