Seahorse
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? Seahorse |
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 Seahorse (photo by
NOAA)
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Species
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Hippocampus is a genus of fish known as Seahorses (family Syngnathidae). They are found in temperate and tropical waters all over the world.
Seahorses range in size from 16 mm (the recently discovered Hippocampus denise [1]) to 35 cm. They are notable for being one of only a few species where the males get pregnant. A seahorse pregnancy lasts approximately two to three weeks. Seahorses are also unusual among fish for being relatively monogamous.
The seahorse is a true fish, with a dorsal fin located on the lower body and pectoral fins located on the head near their gills. Mostly transparent, these often don't show in pictures and even with live animals most people do not see them at first.
Seahorse populations have been endangered in recent years by overfishing. The seahorse is used in traditional Chinese herbology, and as many as 20 million seahorses may be caught each year and sold for this purpose ( [2]).
Seahorses reproduce in an unusual way: the male becomes pregnant. The mating pair entwine their tails and the female aligns a long tube called ovipositor with the male's pouch. The eggs move through the tube into the male's pouch where he then fertilises them. The embryos will develop for between ten days and six weeks, depending on species and water conditions. When the male gives birth he pumps his tail until the baby seahorses emerge.
Though close relatives of seahorses, sea dragons have bigger bodies and leaf-like appendages which enable them to hide among floating seaweed or kelp beds. Sea dragons feed on larval fishes and amphipods, such as small shrimp-like crustaceans called mysids ("sea lice"), sucking up their prey with their small mouths. Many of these amphipods feed on red algae that thrives in the shade of the kelp forests where the sea dragons live.
Import and export of seahorses is controlled under CITES since May 15, 2004.
As Pets
While many Aquarium Hobbyists keep seahorses as pets, seahorses collected from the wild do not tend to fare well in a home aquarium. They will only feed on live foods such as brine shrimp and are prone to stress in an aquarium which, in turn lowers their immune systems and exposes them to diseases. In recent years, however, captive breeding of seahorses has become increasingly widespread. These seahorses tend to do much better in captivity. They are less likely to carry diseases, will accept frozen foods such as mysid shrimp and aren't exposed to the shock and stress of being taken out of the wild and placed in a small aquarium. Captive bred seahorses are more expensive, but are a better investment as they are much hardier and don't take a toll on wild populations. Seahorses can be kept in an aquarium with other seahorses, pipefish, and other non-aggressive, slow moving fish. Seahorses are slow feeders and in an aquarium with fast, aggressive feeders, the seahorses will be edged out during feeding. For this reason, there are a limited number of tankmates that can be kept successfully with seahorses.
Species
There are approximately 35 known species of seahorse including:
- Hippocampus abdominalis : (Big-belly seahorse) which is found off the coast of New Zealand and south and east Australia
- Hippocampus algiricus : (West African Seahorse)
- Hippocampus angustus: (Narrow Bellied Seahorse)
- Hippocampus barbouri : (Barbour's seahorse or Zebra-snout seahorse)
- Hippocampus bargibanti (Pygmy Seahorse) which is found in the West Pacific area (Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Salomon Islands, etc.)
- Hippocampus borboniensis : (Réunion Seahorse)
- Hippocampus breviceps: (Short Snouted Seahorse) which is found off the coast of south and east Australia
- Hippocampus camelopardalis: (Giraffe Seahorse)
- Hippocampus capensis: (Knysna Seahorse)
- Hippocampus colemani: (Coleman's Seahorse)
- Hippocampus comes: (Tiger Tail Seahorse) which is found in the Far East
- Hippocampus coronatus: (Crowned Seahorse)
- Hippocampus denise: (Denise's Seahorse)
- Hippocampus erectus: (Lined Seahorse) which is found off the east coast of the Americas, between Nova Scotia and Uruguay
- Hippocampus fisheri: (Fisher's Seahorse)
- Hippocampus fuscus: (Sea Pony) which is found in the Indian Ocean
- Hippocampus guttulatus: (Speckled Seahorse)
- Hippocampus hippocampus: (European Seahorse) which is found in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean
- Hippocampus histrix: (Thorny Seahorse) which is found in the Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and the Far East
- Hippocampus ingens: (Pacific Seahorse) which is found off the Pacific coast of North, Central and South America)
- Hippocampus jayakari: (Jayakar's Seahorse)
- Hippocampus kelloggi: (Great Seahorse)
- Hippocampus kuda: (Spotted Seahorse)
- Hippocampus lichtensteinii: (Lichtenstein's Seahorse)
- Hippocampus minotaur: (Bullneck Seahorse)
- Hippocampus mohnikei: (Japanese Seahorse)
- Hippocampus procerus: (Hippocampus procerus)
- Hippocampus reidi: (Brazilian Seahorse) which is found in the Caribbean in coral reefs
- Hippocampus sindonis: (Shiho's seahorse)
- Hippocampus spinosissimus: (Hedgehog Seahorse)
- Hippocampus subelongatus: (Tigersnout Seahorse or West Australian Seahorse)
- Hippocampus trimaculatus: (Three-Spot Seahorse)
- Hippocampus tuberculatus: (Knobby Seahorse)
- Hippocampus whitei: (White's Seahorse) which is found off the coast of east Australia
- Hippocampus zebra: (Zebra Seahorse)
- Hippocampus zosterae: (Dwarf Seahorse) which is found in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean)