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Seahorses are unusual fish. After a courtship ritual the female transfers the
eggs to the pouch of the male where they are incubated for around 4 weeks
before live juveniles about 20 mm in length are released. Numbers vary from
5-1000 per birth depending on age, fish size and condition but more commonly
around 300-500 are released by male broodstock. The juvenile seahorses feed
on Artemia on the day of release, growing quickly to a stage where they begin
to show signs of sexual dimorphism and courtship at 4-6 months of age. Undergraduate
students work with our seahorses to compare the biology and husbandry requirements
with that of the more commonly cultured rainbow trout.
Research on the big-bellied or pot-bellied seahorse Hippocampus
abdominalis over the last 10 years has included about 15 studies
by honours, masters, PhD students and staff on topics such as:
* Husbandry techniques associated with intensive culture systems
* Food intake and feeding patterns
* Artemia enrichment and ration
* Feeding and alternative feeds
* Digestive enzyme development
* Nitrogen metabolism and ammonia production
* Swim bladder hyperinflation
* Oxygen consumption
* Environmental conditions during live transport
* Effects of ammonia and nitrite on respiration
* Genetic studies
All cultured stock involved in research are captive bred; no wild stock has been used since about 1997. During the experimental period the seahorse research unit holds around 2-3000 juveniles and 20-50 broodstock. These fish are housed in broodstock conditioning tanks and five research recirculation systems.All tanks are housed in a temperature and photoperiod controlled room supported by our live feeds production unit.
For more information visit www.seahorseworld.com.au or contact Dr John Purser
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