Captive Breeding and Rearing of the Big-Belly Seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis)

The big-belly seahorse Hippocampus abdominalis, is one of the largest seahorse species in the world and normally found in southeast Australia and New Zealand.  This study shows result on H. abdominalis growth under captive conditions over a period of 100 days.  Four healthy captive bred F1 H. abdominalis (2 males and 2 females) acquired from KL Aquaria, KLCC. The seahorses were conditioned, paired and bred at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Aquarium, Pulau Pinang. A few batches of juvenile seahorses were produced from a single pair of these species.  Using mean water temperature of 19^oC, salinity of 33 ppt and enriched adult Artemia along with a diet complement of live mysid shrimps, it was possible to obtain close to 70% young survival 60 days after hatching.  At this age, juveniles had reached an average height of 9 cm and dry weight of nearly 2 g.  They, then, reached the mature size of 13 cm in less than 100 days. To our knowledge, culture of the big-belly seahorse in Malaysia had not yet been reported.  Thus, the result obtained from this study could help aquarists to culture H. abdominalis and be useful in developing seahorse aquaculture in Malaysia.

Keywords:      Hippocampus abdominalis, juvenile growth, nursery rearing, captive breeding, Tunku Abdul Rahman Aquarium