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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted: November 21, 2009
Syngnathiformes is the order of highly-specialized predatory fish known for their unusual appearance and adaptations. The most well known is the seahorse, but all of the syngnathids have similar features: long, narrow bodies that lack rings but are instead have a bony exterior that makes up armor, and small, tubular mouths used for sucking in prey.
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By Angela Feng
| Date posted: August 4, 2009
What is a pygmy seahorse? Pygmy seahorses are part of the genus Hippocampus which all seahorses belong. They are minute seahorse species found through the world, most less than one inch in size. Most species have been discovered within the past 10 years. Since then, they have become one of the most popular creatures for recreational divers to seek out.
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By Kristy L. Forsgren
| Date posted: July 4, 2009
Due to the difficulty and cost associated with maintaining sea dragons in captive environments, reproductive success and rearing of hatchlings has never been documented. During the summer of 2001, two weedy sea dragons became pregnant at the Aquarium of the Pacific.
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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted: June 19, 2009
Seahorses are often referred to as the best dads in the animal kingdom – and for good reason – they’re the only animal where the male gets pregnant! That’s right, it’s the men that take on the joys of childbirth in these equine fishes.
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By Administrator
| Date posted: June 1, 2009
More information on leafy seadragons and weedy seadragons. Papers and websites.
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By Paula Branshaw Carlson
| Date posted: May 29, 2009
The Leafy seadragon, Phycodurus eques, the most ornate member of the family Syngnathidae, has long been known to aquarists as one of the most beautiful and unique of all the fishes. Found only in Southern and Western Australian waters, the Leafy seadragon is a master of camouflage. Named for the dragons of Chinese myth, this relative of the pipefishes and seahorses is named for the leaf-like appendages that adorn its body.
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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted: May 21, 2009
Seahorses are some of the most enchanting and mysterious creatures in the ocean. They are also in trouble, struggling to survive in threatened habitats around the world, while large-scale trading of seahorses for the traditional Chinese medicine market goes unchecked. Meet the Seahorse Sleuths – local scientists who are working to unlock the secrets of [...]
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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted: April 13, 2009
1. Yes! Seahorses can be kept as pets.
As long as you have the proper aquarium set up, and take take proper care of them. They are protected by international law, but that means their trade is regulated, not prohibited. Most countries allow the free trade and keeping of captive bred seahorses. Captive bred seahorses are [...]
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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted: February 23, 2009
Dwarf seahorses, Hippocampus zosterae remains an ever popular, easy to care for aquarium pet. The basics of keeping them are quite simple as long as you follow a few guidelines.
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By Administrator
| Date posted: August 29, 2008
Finding live food for syngnathids can be difficult. Here is a list of mail order and online suppliers wordwide. If you know of any additional suppliers that should be added, please add to the comments below and I’ll add them to this list.
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By Administrator
| Date posted: July 1, 2008
Here are some sources online for captive bred Seahorses. You can often have your Local Fish Store order captive bred Seahorses for you if they don’t have any available. It is strongly advised that you always purchase captive bred seahorses over wild caught, as they live longer, arrive healthier, and are easier to feed. If your store is unsure,pass. Captive bred pipefish are a much harder find, but at least one wholesaler in Australia breeds them.
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By Choo Chee Kuang
| Date posted: April 25, 2008
Sungai Pulai is a very special estuarine ecosystem that should merit the status of a
national heritage. The intertidal seagrass bed at the Pulai river mouth is the largest known contiguous meadow in the whole country – home to seahorse, dugong and other rare species, and also a fisheries powerhouse. It is something we, as Malaysian, cannot afford to lose.
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By Rodrigo Flores
| Date posted: September 26, 2007
The one species I had not had and that I wanted was the Dwarf Seahorse, Hippocampus zosterae. So at the beginning of spring I ordered 20 Seahorses all for my own. I set them up in one 40-gallon Eclipse tank with 2 biowheels and I put the intake in a Hydrosponge so the horses would not get sucked up.
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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted: November 9, 2005
Flagtail Pipefish, named such because of their large, brilliantly colored tails that they use in courtship and territory displays, is one of the free swimming types of pipefish from the genus Doryrhamphus and Dunkerocampus. The wonderful thing about these pipefish is that most fair quite well in captivity, unlike many other pipefish species. However, there are still some obstacles that need to be overcome when keeping these interesting fish.
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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted: September 12, 2005
It wasn’t long ago that seahorses were considered “impossible” to keep in captivity. Many believed they were only suitable for those with massive resources such as public aquariums. If the home aquarist were to attempt to keep seahorses, they needed to live near the ocean so they could collect food on a daily basis, and even then, they only met limited success.
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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted: September 11, 2005
One issue that new seahorse keepers struggle with is what exactly they need for an aquarium setup to keep seahorses. Having never kept fish, it can be difficult to pick out what precisely is needed to get started. Here is a list of basic equipment and a price brake down, to give an idea of the specifics of cost and equipment to get started.
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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted: June 25, 2005
Seahorses are ambush predators, feeding primarily on crustaceans, mostly shrimp. In their wild state, most seahorses only eat live food. (Although H. capensis is an exception and known to feed on dead food in the wild). In our aquariums, Wild Caught specimens often don’t recognize many food items offer that are not from their natural [...]
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By Administrator
| Date posted: February 20, 2005
Conservation and research groups around the world that study and try to protect fishes of the order Syngathiformes.
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By Will Wooten
| Date posted: June 25, 2004
Snout rot is the erosion of the skin around the snout of a seahorse. Similar to and likey caused by the same pathogen as flesh-eating bacteria, Vibrio spp., snout rot can often be controlled with pre-treatment before the seahorse is released into the display aquarium. The disease may be cause either by fungal infection (in which case the snout will be pinkish) or bacterial infection (in which case the snout will be white).
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By Will Wooten
| Date posted:
There are quite a lot of animals that will do exceptionally well with seahorses while still allowing the seahorses themselves to thrive. To guide seahorse keepers in stocking their seahorse tanks with non-seahorse inhabitants, this article contains a list of species that are appropriate for keeping with seahorses.
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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted:
Evacuating the brood pouch of a male seahorse may be necessary from time to time if a male’s pouch accumulates excessive gas in the pouch. At first, this may seem like a frightening task, but its really very simple to do, even with the squirmiest of guys. Just remember, seahorses are smart and he’ll probably [...]
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By Will Wooten
| Date posted: June 24, 2004
The purpose of this guide is to provide a reference, or starting point, in identifying and treating some of the most common diseases and medical conditions of seahorses in home aquariums. It is not, however, set in stone; constant scientific research and anecdotal evidence cause the seahorse hobby to evolve every day, furthering our understanding [...]
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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted: June 22, 2004
Seahorses have always been a mystery, fascinating man from the earliest times. Aristotle wrote about them. Even in modern times, relatively little was known about seahorse biology until 20 years ago, when the first serious attempt at researching their biology was made. But even with ground breaking new research, they are shrouded in as much [...]
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By Administrator
| Date posted:
There are currently around 40 recognized seahorse species. Seahorses are part of the family Syngnathidae (pronounced sing-nath-i-dee), which means “fused jaw”. All seahorses belong to the genus Hippocampus.
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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted: February 20, 2004
One particular problem serious seahorse keepers and breeders face is lack of veterinary support. Some vets are willing to try to help, but most turn seahorse keepers away due to lack of aquatic animal experience. The hobbyist is then left with the choice of letting their beloved pets waste away, or attempting to try advanced care techniques themselves. This article is for those hobbyists who feel its necessary to go the extra mile in supportive care for their seahorses.
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By Carlos Restrepo
| Date posted: January 1, 2004
Seahorses are threatened throughout their range as a result of habitat loss and over-fishing. They are exploited for traditional Asian medicine markets, the pet trade, and for food.
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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted: April 3, 2003
The system I use for raising Hippocampus reidi fry is a modified pseudokreisel. Kreisels and pseudokreisels are tanks with a circular water flow most often used for keeping jellyfish. For H. reidi, and other pelagic seahorse fry prone to air snicking, you can use a drum fish bowl for this purpose.
The design originally suggested by Pete [...]
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By Ed Curran
| Date posted: February 19, 2003
My fascination with seahorses began a long time ago, it all started when I was a boy reading the classifieds in Field and Stream, an ad selling dwarf seahorses caught my eye and that was that. I ordered the ponies and proceeded to watch them die one by one over the next few days, I [...]
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By Todd Gardner
| Date posted: September 1, 2001
Although seahorses have been spawned and reared in captivity for many years, a simple, effective, and reliable culture protocol is still sorely needed. The purpose of this article is to report on my preliminary rearing trials and the solutions to some of the problems I have encountered.
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By Gerald Jennings
| Date posted: March 1, 2000
Members of the family Syngnathidae, more commonly known as Pipe Fish, can be found throughout the world both in brackish and marine waters. Coldwater species can be found around the British coast and there are seven species that have been recorded as being quite common. We shall deal with these coldwater species first:
Native species:-
Syngnathus acus, [...]