Factors Affecting Successful Culture of the Seahorse, Hippocampus Abdominalis Leeson, 1827

Effect of Temperature on Growth and Survival in Cultured Early Juvenile Pot‐bellied Seahorses, Hippocampus abdominalis

“…In general, exposure of teleosts to an extreme temperature can alter the function of the cardiovascular system, nerves, proteins, and enzymes, especially in juveniles of sensitive species (Tucker 1998). Woods (2003c) reported the presence of H. abdominalis in temperatures as high as 24 C in the wild. This is consistent with the findings of this study in which H. abdominalis appeared to have an upper thermal tolerance for survival at some point between 23 and 26 C. Therefore, further research is needed to determine the critical upper temperature limit for H. abdominalis .…”

“…Hippocampus abdominalis has been an experimental model in syngnathid research for the last 18 yr. This species is a temperate water species that experiences a temperature range of 8–24 C in the wild (Woods 2003c), whereas a temperature range of 10–19 C has been used in captivity (Woods 2000b). Temperature is one of the most important factors influencing fish growth (Tucker 1998).…”

“…comm.). Woods (2003c) conducted a study in which the effects of a temperature range (12, 15, 18, and 21 C) on H. abdominalis growth and survival were examined. The authors found improved growth of this species at higher temperatures (18 and 21 C) compared with lower temperatures (12 and 15 C), while mortality was not affected by these temperatures.…”

Effect of Direct Transfer to Different Salinities on Early Juvenile Pot‐bellied Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, Survival in Culture Conditions

“…Full‐strength seawater has been commonly used during the experimental culture of seahorse species such as Hippocampus erectus (Correa et al ; Scarratt ), Hippocampus whitei (Wong and Benzie ), and Hippocampus kuda (Anil et al ; Lin et al ). Similarly, much of the research on the pot‐bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis , has also been conducted in full‐strength seawater (Woods , , , , , , ; Adams et al ; Shapawi and Purser ; Woods and Valentino ; Wilson et al ; Martinez‐Cardenas and Purser , , ). However, H .…”

“…Full-strength seawater has been commonly used during the experimental culture of seahorse species such as Hippocampus erectus (Correa et al 1989;Scarratt 1996), Hippocampus whitei (Wong and Benzie 2003), and Hippocampus kuda (Anil et al 1999;Lin et al 2006). Similarly, much of the research on the pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, has also been conducted in full-strength seawater (Woods 2000a(Woods , 2000b(Woods , 2003a(Woods , 2003b(Woods , 2003c(Woods , 2005a(Woods , 2005bAdams et al 2001;Shapawi and Purser 2003;Woods and Valentino 2003;Wilson et al 2006;Martinez-Cardenas and Purser 2007, 2011, 2012. However, H. abdominalis is a coastal species found in estuarine waters of southeast Australia and New Zealand (Gomon and Neira 1998;Martin-Smith and Vincent 2005) and appears to tolerate water of fluctuating salinity (Foster and Vincent 2004).…”