Abstract
We studied fecundity, survival, and growth of the seahorse Hippocampus ingens under semi-controlled conditions. Three wild brood stock mature males of 14.8, 24.5, and 32.0 g released 1,598, 1,703, and 1,658 juveniles. Juvenile stocking densities of 12 were settled in 60-1 aquariums in groups of 1, 12, and 20 days old organisms. The rate of survival was 21.5, 61.9, and 59.0%, respectively, in 35 days. Juveniles were fed a mix diet of rotifers B. plicatilis and Artemia nauplii, then they were transferred to a cement tank of 100,000 1 at a density of 50/1,000 1 and fed with live adult Artemia for 60 days more. They grew from an average of 0.7, 1.5, and 2.7 to 4.5, 5.4, and 6.7 cm, respectively, in 95 days. The seawater temperature varied from 17 to 23 degrees C.
Highlights
Several species of Hippocampus have been commercially exploited for several years without proper knowledge of culture techniques
The aim of this paper was to count and calculate fecundity, survival, and growth of the seahorse Hippocampus ingens under semi-controlled conditions
In this work three mature males of 14.8, 24.5 and 32.0 g released 1 598, 1 703, and 1 658 juveniles, respectively, which is not very different from the results obtained by Reyes-Bustamante and Ortega-Salas (1999) who reported that four ripe males with a length between 18.9 to 20.3 cm and weighting between 25.1 to 26.5 g. released 1 200, 1 450, 1 600, and 1 600 juveniles in five days, giving an average of 1 462 juveniles per male; Tawil (1994) mentioned that H. ingens could release up to 6 000 juveniles from heavier ripe males
Summary
Several species of Hippocampus have been commercially exploited for several years without proper knowledge of culture techniques. Seahorses have been mainly caught in China, Thailand, India, and the Philippines for many years (Mi 1992). Commercial demands for seahorses, mainly for medical purposes, are increasing by 20 % per year and the price per kilogram of dried seahorse varies from US$ 400.00 to 1 300.00 (Vincent 1994). Liang (1992) studied H. ramalassus reproduction and assured that artificial production would allow the preservation of this Hippocampus species. The aim of this paper was to count and calculate fecundity, survival, and growth of the seahorse Hippocampus ingens under semi-controlled conditions
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