Seahorse Question?

adrian1963

adrian1963

Well-Known Member
I now I am a bit of a bird fanatic but I have a question my niece would like me to ask about an aquatic species I said I would probably get just a few replies for this so here I go.

The following collections hold the Common Seahorse she wondered how many collection have kept them in the past and has any collection ever managed to breed the species within the UK.

Here are the collections she has found that still hold them according to Zooterliste so any help would be gratefully received and stop me getting nagged to death so could you please help.
 
adrian1963 said:
I now I am a bit of a bird fanatic but I have a question my niece would like me to ask about an aquatic species I said I would probably get just a few replies for this so here I go.

The following collections hold the Common Seahorse she wondered how many collection have kept them in the past and has any collection ever managed to breed the species within the UK.

Here are the collections she has found that still hold them according to Zooterliste so any help would be gratefully received and stop me getting nagged to death so could you please help.
Click to expand...
Ignore me if I'm going mad here but how can we help letting you know if they still have them,if you don't include the list of collections??
 
Sorry to be a bit of a bore, but common seahorse is not a name which is often used in this country. The seahorses are a very confusing group as many of the medium-sized species are very similar. I thought you meant our native Hippocampus hippocampus, which is often called the short-snouted seahorse, but I see Zootierliste uses the name for H. kuda. This species is often called the yellow seahorse or the spotted seahorse, although it isn't always yellow or spotted, but ISIS calls it the giant Pacific seahorse (even though it's usually significantly smaller than the species ISIS calls the Pacific seahorse H. ingens). Then again H. erectus is by far the commonest species in US zoos and aquaria.
I won't go on any more :)
To be honest, although a few species are easily recognisable, I doubt if I could identify many live medium-sized seahorses without a good deal of reference to the book (Lourie, Vincent & Hall 1999), although I have studied this family for a while; so I am quite sceptical of the labels in some public aquaria.
Having said all that, Chester currently have a nice display of H. kuda but Bristol only have a couple which are not very easy to observe. The best of display of a range of seahorse species I have seen was at the National Marine Aquarium at Plymouth, but I haven't been there for a few years so I am not sure what they have on show at present.

Alan
 
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Whoops sorry exciting evening playing with a few birds from next door (feathered kind)
Here's the list -

Bristol Zoo
Chester Zoo
The Deep Aquarium Hull
Sea Life Weymouth

Any information would be great
 
@Gentle Lemur I think my niece would like information on any Seahorses in the UK as she for some unknown reason loves the species (not trying to upset anyone but not my cup of tea)
 
The Sea Life Center at Loch Lomond has a breeding area for sea horses... its quite and interesting section... sea horses and pipefish... couldnt tell you what kind they were tho...sorry
 
Weymouth have bred them (according to zootierliste), but I don't remember seeing them when I visited earlier this month; mind you, the listing has only recently been added to zootierliste.
I saw a common seahorse (H. kuda) earlier this week at Sea Life London Aquarium, sharing a tank with H. erectus and H. reidi seahorses.
 
London Zoo has H hippocampus and H guttulatus, according to the inventory. I'm with your niece, Adrian, I think they're absolutely lovely. London also has about six species of pipefish, which although different animals, have something of the same charm, I think! BTW if you want a lovely present for your niece any time, look at Debby Mason's website, she does beautiful coloured etchings of seahorses and other gorgeous beasts (I have one on my wall).
 
Your other question was about breeding – London Zoo certainly has done (900 baby H hippocampus were born in 2010!) and I'm sure has an ongoing breeding programme, but I don't know how successful this is in terms of numbers reaching adulthood.
 
gentle lemur said:
Sorry to be a bit of a bore, but common seahorse is not a name which is often used in this country. The seahorses are a very confusing group as many of the medium-sized species are very similar. I thought you meant our native Hippocampus hippocampus, which is often called the short-snouted seahorse, but I see Zootierliste uses the name for H. kuda. This species is often called the yellow seahorse or the spotted seahorse, although it isn't always yellow or spotted, but ISIS calls it the giant Pacific seahorse (even though it's usually significantly smaller than the species ISIS calls the Pacific seahorse H. ingens). Then again H. erectus is by far the commonest species in US zoos and aquaria.
I won't go on any more :)
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Yes - this is one of those groups where if you're trying to follow a particular species, common names should pretty much be disregarded - they're just too fluid and often seem to be just made up!
 
H. kuda - common, yellow, or Pacific giant seahorse. Found at Brisol, Chester, The Deep. The Sea Life group claim to have successfully bred and reared nine species of 'seahorse' (I wondered if they threw in pipefish to come to that figure), H. kuda are not one of the easier species to rear successfully, and I would suspect they are declining in the UK. They can be a very colourful species and were common in the aquarium trade until the 1980s.

To clarify about the other species on display in the UK:

H. guttulatus - Long-snouted, or 'Spiny' seahorse. Previously referred to as H. ramulosus - this classification no longer exists. This is the most common of the two species found in UK waters, and the one that the Sea Life group make much of having bred well in captivity:

Back from the brink ? the Spiny Seahorse

I'm in no way endorsing them, the link is just for reference. ZSL London zoo also have a couple according to ISIS.

H. abdominalis - 'Australian big-belly' or 'Pot-bellied' seahorse. This is the other species imported during the late 90s by the sea life group. As you will see from ISIS, the less corporate zoological collections don't keep these. Sea life aquaria retain sizeable groups of this very large species. They are very easy to rear as, being bigger fry, they can eat Mysid shrimp at a younger age (far more nutritious than even enriched artemia hatchlings).

H. hippocampus - Short-snouted, or 'Atlantic' seahorse. This is the other British species, but needs the warmer currents from the gulf stream and stays south. Found at some Sea Life Centres, ZSL London Zoo, and Living Coasts. I think the Seahorse Trust also maintain some at The National Aquarium. Doesn't breed so well in captivity, many in aquaria are those caught accidently by fishermen.

H. reidi - Slender, coloured or long-snouted seahorse (WMSP, Some sea life centres). This species was one of those prioritised by 'Project Seahorse' in the late nineties, however in captivity they are a very hard species to rear, as a result I strongly suspect this species is declining in the UK, would love to be proved otherwise:

BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Glasgow, Lanarkshire and West | Breeding woes for lonely seahorse

H. erectus - Northern, or 'lined' seahorse. Found at London Aquarium.

H. fuscus - The 'Sea Pony'. The species most commonly found in the aquarium trade. Fairly easy to rear in captivity (I bred them successfully years ago). Found at London Aquarium, The Deep, and some sea life centres, but significant numbers I believe to be in private hands.
 
Chester have had a lot of success in breeding seahorses, nine species in all.

Seahorse unidentified (Hippocampus) (young did not survive)
New Zealand Big-bellied Seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis)
Short-snouted Seahorse (Hippocampus hippocampus) (young did not survive)
Knysna Seahorse (Hippocampus capensis)
Dusky Seapony (Hippocampus fuscus)
Thorny Seahorse (Hippocampus histrix)
Oceanic Seahorse (Hippocampus kuda)
Caribbean Long-snouted Seahorse (Hippocampus reidi)
Dwarf Seahorse (Hippocampus zosterae)


They have also kept the European Long-snouted Seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) but did not breed them.
 
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volvox said:
Your other question was about breeding – London Zoo certainly has done (900 baby H hippocampus were born in 2010!) and I'm sure has an ongoing breeding programme, but I don't know how successful this is in terms of numbers reaching adulthood.
Click to expand...

I would say, and this is also to comment on the post above this one, that production and volume of fry is no achievement really in the fish world, most seahorses produce young very easily and regularly in captivity, the trick is rearing them, as the list at Chester illustrates. Not to take away from the achievements where they have been reared to adulthood, but this is exactly why those cases are such great achievements.
 
Although all seahorses have the same basic method of reproduction, there is considerable variation between different species in the number and size of the fry produced in each brood. Species that produce small broods of large fry are very much easier to raise than those which give large numbers of tiny fry that would live in the plankton in the wild.
I know that one of the secrets behind some of Chester's successes has been regular trips to a location on the Dee estuary to collect Mysis shrimps, which are a favourite food of the adults.

Alan
 
When I worked in aquaria, that was essentially the problem....Mysis were (and I assume, still are) hard to produce in captivity, and even enriched artemia wasn't as nutritious. Most seahorse fry won't touch dead mysis in my experience.

Your point about broods is correct, this is partly why Sea Life had so much success with the 'Australian big belly', as the fry are enourmous compared to most Hippocampids.
 
Many thanks to everyone for the very informative replies will be visiting Chester Shortly now arranged to hire a small mini bus so hope this keeps my niece quiet for a while again thanks everyone for the replies
 
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