Hippocampus reidi (Ginsburg 1933)          PDF version

 

Synonymous:       H. obtsus (Ginsburg 1933);

                           H. poeyi (Howell Rivero 1934)

 

English :      Slender seahorse /

                   Longsnout seahorse /

                   Brazillian seahorse

French :       Hippocampe long-nez /

                   Cheval Marin long-nez

Portuguese:  Cavalo-marinho do Brasil

Castellano :  Caballito de hocico /

                   Caballito narizon /

                   Caballito de mar de hocico largo

Italian :         Cavalluccio-marino a punta lunga

 

     

Similar species - H. algiricus (East Atlantic); H. kuda (Indo-Pacífic); H. erectus (West Atlantic Ocidental)

Distribution - Northwest Atlantic region, from Brasil to the Florida area, on rock or sand bottoms. Lives among mangrove roots, sea grass areas, artificial structures on estuaries, on stone coral and gorgonian coral up to  55 m deep.

 Description – Profusely spotted with brown dots and numerous tiny white dots, specially on the tail. Colour varies depending on habitat, stress level or mating ritual, going darker or lighter. It's length  at birth is about 7 mm and it reaches sexual maturity when it is about 8 cm. Its maximum length is 17.5 cm, and has a life span of 4 years.

  Behaviour  –  They like to live in pairs. They go up and down in the water column, being more active during early morning and at the end of the day. To rest, they hitch by their prehensile tail. It needs holding posts in the aquarium. After an elaborated courting ritual, the female transfer the eggs to the male's pouch. After 2 to 4 weeks of incubation, the fry are born, a perfect miniature of the parents.

  Temperature – The ideal temperature profile is from 22 ºC to 26 ºC. 

  Water Quality – Water quality parameters are as follows

pH: 8.0-8.3
Salinity 35 ppt
SG: 1020-1024
ammonium 0
nitrite 0
nitrate <20 ppm
Copper 0

 

 Feeding – Captive bred species are fed once or twice a day frozen mysis. Once a week, as a supplement, enriched frozen artemia or fish pellet food is offered. Feeding brine shrimp or any other live food must always be enriched previously. Any other frozen food. must be supplemented with vitamins for fish, carotenoid e HUFAs.

 Tank – The tank for the  H.reidi seahorse should have a minimum depth of 50 cm (3 x maximum length of seahorse) and the water column (excluding the substrate) at least 35 cm (2 x maximum length of seahorse). The recommended minimum volume for a pair is 60 litres with an additional 30 litres for each new pair. The tank surge should be moderate and the water should be cycled 3 to 5 times the tank volume per hour.

 Observation  – Seahorses are not good swimmers, not aggressive and are not very good competing for food and thus they are easier to maintain on a seahorse-only tank.  However, juvenile and adult seahorses can have as tank mates various cleaning crew as companions, for example nassarius spp, cerítium spp, cleaner shrimps like Lysmata spp, etc.

Links   –  The Seahorse Project,   the Seahorse Trust UK,    Syngnathid Org,   Seahorse Org

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