Hatchery management techniques for tiger-tail seahorse (Hippocampus comes)

Seahorse culture has been practiced throughout the world to meet the demand for global trade and reduce the pressure on wild stocks through overexploitation. Development of culture techniques for seed production of seahorses is one of the most effective measures to avoid such anthropological repercussions on the wild stocks, and is currently being conducted at SEAFDEC/ AQD with the aim to produce seed for stock release to protect these internationally threatened and overexploited species in Southeast Asia. This paper describes the breakthroughs in seahorse breeding and nursery rearing. So far, we have developed water and feeding management schemes that resulted in improved reproductive performance of broodstock and higher survival and growth rates in newborn and juvenile seahorses. We highlight the concern of providing desirable food organisms and maintenance of suitable water quality in order to maintain maximum efficiency in the management of the seahorse hatchery. Newborn seahorses fed with formalin-treated food organisms and reared in UV-treated seawater had significantly higher survival and daily growth rate based on stretched height and body weight than those fed with untreated food organisms and reared in both chlorinated and sand-filtered seawater. Broodstocks fed with mysid shrimps showed higher brood size and shorter parturition interval. Thus, improved reproductive performance as well as survival and growth of newborn seahorses were largely influenced by refinement of hatchery management techniques

Initiating resource enhancement of seahorses: A case study at Sagay marine reserve in central Philippines

Seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) are commonly found in tropical coral reefs as well as in lagoons and estuaries, and are highly exploited for their high price, resulting in the listing of these seahorses in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In fact, all seahorses are among the first marine fishes of commercial importance to be listed in both the IUCN and Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to ensure their sustainable utilization. In promoting the protection and sustainability of this resource, efforts have been made worldwide for their conservation through stock enhancement by releasing captive-bred or captive-held seahorses. The SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department (AQD) with support from the Japanese Trust Fund through the project ‘Resource Enhancement of Internationally Threatened and Over-exploited Species in Southeast Asia through Stock Release,’ has been working on the resource enhancement of seahorses primarily by developing appropriate release and monitoring strategies, and enhancing the involvement of concerned communities in the management of the natural as well as the restocked seahorses

Abalone hatchery

This manual contains information on abalone hatchery operation, including site selection, design, culture of natural food, broodstock management, spawning, nursery, packing and transport, and profitability analyses