Which seahorses in captivity ?

vogelcommando

vogelcommando

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Last weekend I visited 'Het Arsenaal' in Vlissingen, a combinated aquarium and indoor-children playground. In 2 different aquaria they kept 3 species of seahorses : Hippocampus comes, Hippocampus reidi and a third species from which I forgot to notice it's name. I known there are a lot of different species ( about 50 ? ) and that they are difficult to identify.
Also I know that several years ago several zoo started with a seahorse breeding project and now I would like to know how succesfull this project is/was and which species are kept/bred in zoos/aquaria ?
 
I think there are a few species in captivity, but ztl is always useful.
One sea horse species I can confirm is hippocampus hippocampus, which some of are being moved from london to macduff
 
About 55 species and several more (primarily small species) that still haven't received a latin name are known. New seahorse species are also discovered with some regularity and there are undoubtedly more waiting to be discovered.
The captive breeding programmes have been a success with several species kept in large numbers and bred repeatedly. Additional species have been bred outside the specific programmes; sometimes also repeatedly and in large quantities. I am not completely sure how many species are kept in total (in breeding programmes or elsewhere) but certainly above a dozen; I suspect around two dozen. This includes all species from the Atlantic (except H. algiricus and H. patagonicus?), Caribbean, Mediterranean and East Pacific. Several species from elsewhere are also bred in captivity, but a few distinct groups appear to be entirely absent, including the striped* (H. dahli, H. manadensis, H. montebelloensis and H. zebra) and the true pygmies* (H. bargibanti, H. colemani, H. debelius, H. denise, H. lichtensteinii, H. minotaur, H. pontohi, H. satomiae, H. severnsi and H. waleananus). The genera Amphelikturus, Acentronura and Idiotropiscis, which one could call seahorses, also appear to be absent.

* There is a rare striped form of H. trimaculatus, but this species is normally unstriped and not part of the "striped" group. The dwarf seahorse (H. zosterae) is very small, but not a true pygmy seahorse. Both H. trimaculatus and H. zosterae are kept and bred in captivity.
 
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Found a note on the Patagonian seahorse ( Hippocampus patagonicus ) - a species which was only discribed in 2004.
In the article it is said that the Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturalus "Vincente Di Martino" - Buenos Aires - Argentina - kept the species for a short period.
Has anyone ever visited this Museum and maybe even seen the seahorses ?

The presence of the Patagonian seahorse Hippocampus patagonicus Piacentino & Luzzatto, 2004 (Teleostei: Syngnatidae) in Monte Hermoso, southwestern Buenos Aires province, Argentina | Estalles | Check List
 
Places I've been to that carry seahorses (Only counting Hippocampinae, didn't count seadragons though SeaWorld Orlando and Shedd Aquarium both have leafy and weedy seadragons)

Toledo:
-Lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus)

SeaWorld Orlando:
-Lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus), located at Manta Aquarium

Shedd Aquarium*:
-Big-belly/Potbelly seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis)
-Lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus)
-Flat-faced/Longnose seahorse (Either Hippocampus reidi or Hippocampus trimaculatus)
-New Holland seahorse (Hippocampus whitei)

*probably incomplete

SEA LIFE Michigan:
-Big-belly/Potbelly seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis)
Belle Isle Aquarium:
-Lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus)

Atlantis (Nassau, Bahamas, take note I went here back when I was in like middle school around early 2011 so they could probably have a different species now so I'm taking the website's info):
-Lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus)

It seems like Lined seahorses are the seahorse norm with AZA-accredited places :P
 
Yesterday I visited SeaLife Scheveningen - the Netherlands and paid some extra attention to their large Seahorse-collection. The different SeaLife Centers are well-known for their breeding-programms with Seahorses and at Scheveningen this was not different. One enclosure with babies just several days old and in another aquarium a large group of somewhat older babies.
I was able to find 4 different species in the collection :
- Lined seahorse ( Hippocampus erectus ) ( see Lined seahorse - Hippocampus erectus | ZooChat )
- Pot-bellied seahorse ( Hippocampus abdominalis ) ( see Pot-bellied seahorse - Hippocampus abdominalis | ZooChat )
- Short-snouted seahorse ( Hippocampus hippocampus )
- Dwarf seahorse ( Hippocampus zosterae ) ( see Dwarf Seahorse - Hippocampus zosterae | ZooChat ).
This last species is only kept at one other European collection ( Zoo Berlin ) and SeaLife Scheveningen isn't mentioned at Zootierliste as being a keeper.
On the sign of the Dwarf seahorse ( see Sign Dwarf seahorse - Hippocampus zosterae | ZooChat ) its also mentioned that this species is also called sea-pony but this is another species ( Hippocampus fuscus ), so not 100 % which of both species is really on display at Scheveningen.
On Zootierliste Scheveningen is also mentioned as being the only current keeper of the Pacific seahorse ( Hippocampus ingens ) in Europe but I didn't found any sign of animal of this species, so not sure if this species isn't kept anymore or if they have been placed behind the scenes...
 
Chester Zoo has kept

New Zealand Big-bellied Seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis) *
Knysna Seahorse (Hippocampus capensis) *
Dusky Seapony (Hippocampus fuscus) *
European Seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus)
Short-snouted Seahorse (Hippocampus hippocampus)
Thorny Seahorse (Hippocampus histrix) *
Estuary Seahorse (Hippocampus kuda) *
Long-snouted Seahorse (Hippocampus reidi) *
Dwarf Seahorse (Hippocampus zosterae) *

" denotes bred at the zoo.

and is currently breeding Hippocampus abdominalis.
 
From the list of Eublepharis, looks like that Hippocampus erectus is the most commonly kept species. However, according to my experience, it's Hippocampus reidi the one most commonly kept, with big difference with any other species. Almost every aquarium or zoo-aquarium with seahorses, if keep only one species, then is H. reidi, and also H. reidi is the only one that I saw at aquarium shops (several times).
Birch Aquarium in San Diego have a room dedicated exclusively to seahorses (where they also have some relatives like pipefishes, sea dragons and even sea moths). And the breeding facility for seahorses is on show in the same room.
Certainly, the absence of my dreamed H. bargibanti in captivity always has been very noticeable for me. I think that it must be too difficult to keep (they need their specific gorgonian, the live food must be much smaller than Artemia, and also, "normal" visitors will not care about a seahorse that they barely can see because of the size...)

I can provide a list of the seahorses that I've seen in captivity:

Barcelona Aquarium (Spain): Hippocampus guttulatus, Hippocampus hippocampus

Berlin Zoo-Aquarium (Germany): Hippocampus abdominalis, Hippocampus subelongatus

Birch Aquarium (California): Hippocampus comes, Hippocampus erectus, Hippocampus ingens, Hippocampus whitei, Hippocampus zosterae (all in the seahorse room except H. ingens)

Cologne zoo (Germany); Hippocampus reidi

Duisburg zoo (Germany): Hippocampus reidi

Faunia (Spain): Hippocampus reidi

London Zoo (UK): Hippocampus reidi

Saragossa Fluvial Aquarium (Spain): Hippocampus abdominalis

In aquarium shops: Hippocampus reidi
 
Kakapo said:
Certainly, the absence of my dreamed H. bargibanti in captivity always has been very noticeable for me. I think that it must be too difficult to keep (they need their specific gorgonian, the live food must be much smaller than Artemia, and also, "normal" visitors will not care about a seahorse that they barely can see because of the size...)
Click to expand...

Require a lot of work due to their relationship with certain gorgonians, but the code to keeping it has been cracked by the Steinhart Aquarium, which even bred it:

California Academy of Sciences - Pygmy seahorses at Steinhart Aquarium (CA Academy of Sciences)
 
This list is fairly complete for AZA zoos, but I didn't check some of the smaller zoos, and these are all based on what's provided on websites so there could be some missing.

-Adventure Aquarium: Lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus)

-Aquarium of the Pacific: Dwarf Seahorse (Hippocampus zosterae), Leafy Seadragon (Phycodurus eques), Longsnout Seahorse (Hippocampus reidi), Pacific Seahorse (Hippocampus ingens), Potbellied Seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis), Ribboned Seadragon (Haliichthys taeniophorus), Tigertail Seahorse (Hippocampus comes), Weedy Seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus), numerous pipefish

-Audubon Nature Institute: Pot-Bellied Seahorses (Hippocampus abdominalis)

-Cabrillo Marine Aquarium: Pacific Seahorse (Hippocampus ingens)

-California Academy of Sciences: Leafy Seadragon (Phycodurus eques)

-Dallas World Aquarium: Pot-Bellied Seahorses (Hippocampus abdominalis), Leafy Seadragon (Phycodurus eques), Longsnout Seahorse (Hippocampus reidi), Ribboned Seadragon (Haliichthys taeniophorus), Weedy Seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus)


-Florida Aquarium: Dragons Down Under exhibit has Pygmy Seahorses (Hippocampus zosterae), Leafy Seadragons (Phycodurus eques), Ribboned Pipefish (Haliichthys taeniophorus), and at least one other unlisted seahorse (listed as "Seahorses, Hippocampus species")

-Georgia Aquarium: Potbellied Seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis), Weedy Seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus)

-Houston Zoo: Lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus)

-Monterey Bay Aquarium: Leafy Seadragons (Phycodurus eques)

-Nashville Zoo: Lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus)

-National Aquarium: Longsnout Seahorse (Hippocampus reidi). In the early 2000s they had a large exhibit with 18 species, but I can’t find the names.

-New England Aquarium: Leafy Seadragons (Phycodurus eques)

-Sea Life (chain inside Lego Lands): Arizona, Carlsbad, Charlotte, Grapevine (TX), Kansas City, Michigan, and Orlando all have sea horse exhibits that link to the same page about pygmys and potbellieds. Sea Life Minnesota, inside Mall of America, has Weedy Seadragons.

-South Carolina Aquarium: Lined Seahorse (Hippocampus erectus)

-Tennessee Aquarium: used to have a big seahorse exhibit but it's no longer on their website.

-Toronto Zoo: Pot-Bellieds in their Australasia exhibit. I know they've been successful at breeding them because I saw a male give birth on one visit :)



Places that don’t list what species they have:

-Birch Aquarium currently has an exhibit There's Something About Seahorses with 12 species, but they aren't listed on the website.
-Indianapolis Zoo
-Mystic Aquarium
-Newport Aquarium: Exhibit Seahorses: Unbridled Fun! Website doesn’t list species.
-Shedd Aquarium: Numerous species but none are listed.
 
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