Aprende los nombres de los animales marinos

What does “caballito de mar” mean in Spanish?

Caballito de mar is the Spanish word for seahorse, and the picture inside it is lovely. Caballo is “horse,” caballito is “little horse,” and de mar means “of the sea.” So a seahorse is, word for word, a “little horse of the sea.” It is an easy one to remember because the name describes the animal, and it shows how Spanish builds new words from small, familiar ones.

The clip lists sea animals and includes el caballito de mar among them. The -ito ending makes things small or sweet, so caballo becomes caballito (little horse). You will meet this same ending all over Spanish, for example poquito (a little bit) or perrito (puppy).