Preliminary observations on breeding and rearing the seahorseHippocampus abdominalis(Teleostei: Syngnathidae) in captivity

Abstract

A small-scale preliminary investigation into the breeding and rearing of the seahorse Hippocampus abdominalis Leeson, 1827 in New Zealand was conducted using 12 wildbroodstock. These broodstock were maintained in a hatchery for breeding and the breeding behaviours exhibited by these were observed and described. Over a period of 6 months a total of 12 broods of juveniles were produced. These were then raised on a diet consisting mainly of enriched Artemia for a period of 1 year. After this period juveniles had reached a mean ± 1 SE total length of 110.73 ±0.13 mm, mean ± 1 SE wet weight of 3.07 + 0.23 g, and were reproductively mature. The mean + 1 SE survival per brood after 1 year was 10.57 ± 3.49%.

Effects of light intensity, stocking density, feeding frequency and salinity on the growth of sub-adult seahorses Hippocampus erectus Perry, 1810

“…This result was consistent with the report that the male seahorses are generally heavier than females even if they are the same age (Vincent, 1990;Woods, 2000;Baum et al, 2003). For male H. erectus, the development of their brood pouch consumes extra energy (Vincent, 1990).…”

“…There are no significant differences in growth rate of seahorses completely weaned from live feed to the new combination diets (Hilomen-Garcia, 1999;Woods and Valentino, 2003). However, in commercial seahorse culture, the growth of seahorses of the same species, even from the same brood, may be different, and this is largely dependant upon their culture conditions and nutrition (Lourie et al, 1999;Masonjones, 2001;Woods, 2000;Job et al, 2002;.…”

“…This may be attributed to nutrient/mineral needs required to develop the brood pouch (Linton and Soloff, 1964;Vincent, 1990;Masonjones, 2001). In addition, when brooding, male seahorses may not be active in obtaining food (Woods, 2000(Woods, , 2003aFaleiro et al, 2008).…”

“…However, the low survivorship of juvenile seahorses and low reproductive efficiency of the broodstock seahorses have restricted seahorse culture for many years (Herald and Rakowicz, 1951;Scarratt, 1995;Wilson and Vincent, 1998;Wong and Benzie, 2003;Lin et al, 2006). Therefore, recent research works have mainly focused on the growth and survivorship of juveniles (Scarratt, 1995;Woods, 2000Woods, , 2003aSheng et al, 2006;Lin et al, 2008), and on broodstock reproduction (Selman et al, 1991;Vincent, 1995;Teixeira and Musick, 2001;Perante et al, 2002;Lin et al, 2006Lin et al, , 2007Faleiro et al, 2008). The effects of illumination, feed ration, stocking density and gender segregation on growth and survival have been examined in Hippocampus abdominalis (Woods, 2000(Woods, , 2003a(Woods, , 2005.…”

“…Therefore, recent research works have mainly focused on the growth and survivorship of juveniles (Scarratt, 1995;Woods, 2000Woods, , 2003aSheng et al, 2006;Lin et al, 2008), and on broodstock reproduction (Selman et al, 1991;Vincent, 1995;Teixeira and Musick, 2001;Perante et al, 2002;Lin et al, 2006Lin et al, , 2007Faleiro et al, 2008). The effects of illumination, feed ration, stocking density and gender segregation on growth and survival have been examined in Hippocampus abdominalis (Woods, 2000(Woods, , 2003a(Woods, , 2005. The effects of food enrichment on growth and sex ratio have been reported for H. kuda (Job et al, 2002), of different feed on the growth of H. erectus (Correa et al, 1989), H. subelongatus (Payne and Rippingale, 2000) and H. guttulatus (Palma et al, 2008), and the effects of temperature, food, stocking density and light on the growth of H. whitei (Wong and Benzie, 2003).…”