Broodstock cultivation of the yellow seahorse, Hippocampus kuda Bleeker, in the aquarium culture system

Abstract

To improve the yield and survival rate of the offspring, the broodstock cultivation methods of the yellow seahorse, Hippocampus kuda Bleeker, were assessed, including the temperature conditions, diets, culture density and mono-or mixed-sex culture. Feeding parent seahorses with live food increased fecundity, and culture density of more than two pairs of parents during mating improved the survival rate of both sexes and decreased the production cycle. Additionally, separate culture of males and females prior to mating improved fecundity as well as the survival rate of juveniles. A higher number of larvae per batch was produced at 26 °C than at 30°C and 22°C, whereas seahorse production occurred at a higher frequency at 30 °C than in the lower temperature treatments. These results suggest that the optimal culture conditions for H. kuda are as follows: provide live food when cultivating seahorse broodstock, use equal proportions of males and females during mating, use monosex culture at other times, and maintain seawater temperature of 26 °C.