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British aquarium breeds native seahorse

A British aquarium has recently successfully bred native British seahorses.

The Blue Reef aquarium in Hastings recently bred around 200 short-snouted seahorses Hippocampus hippocampus as part of the BIAZA breeding programme.

The fry have been moved off show to a series of nursery tanks which allows the fry to move around without getting caught in air bubbles.

The fry will remain in the nursery tanks until the end of October when hopefully they will be weaned and then moved onto display.

Jo Cole Displays Supervisor at Blue Reef told Practical Fishkeeping: “Fry diet presents the greatest problem of rearing seahorses in captivity. The gut of a seahorse is very short and therefore cannot absorb many nutrients during the digestion process.

“For this reason they have to feed continuously on a high quality diet. We hope that we have modified their diet sufficiently so that these particular fish will be reared to adulthood and become part of an ongoing nationwide captive breeding programme for short-snouted seahorses”

Seahorses are unique in that it is the male seahorse that gives birth to tiny replicas of himself after brooding eggs which are passed to him by the female in a complicated courtship ritual.

Pregnancy lasts between two to four weeks during which time the male and female will continue to greet each other to reaffirm their bond. Seahorses are thought to pair for life.

Throughout the world seahorse numbers are under threat due to variety of causes including trawling, pollution, loss of habitat and over-fishing.

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Nicolette Craig: 15.10.2009
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