In the wild, seahorses are ambush predators, using
their tails to cling to coral and their
long snouts to suddenly suck in unsuspecting prey. But in an aquarium,
baby seahorses
are finicky, fragile animals requiring specific conditions for
survival.
Leslee Matsushige, assistant curator
at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, has
led its seahorse breeding program
for four years and has learned
valuable tricks that have contributed to the success of the seahorse
breeding program.
 The corners of rectangular tanks
create dead zones in the water circulation,
which causes baby seahorses to get trapped by the
surface tension at the top of the tank. Matsushige uses a piece of 10-inch PVC
pipe to round out the corners of the seahorse tanks and increase water flow.
Matsushige also has experimented with feeding regimens. Seahorses
require food
that is small enough to fit in a baby seahorse’s snout, yet nutritious
enough to help them grow. Newborn brine shrimp, still covered in nutritious egg
yolk, have proved to be a perfect seahorse snack.
Birch Aquarium now breeds 13 seahorse species, which have been
sent to 66 aquariums, zoos and research institutions around
the world. 
Contributors to Making Waves: Malinda Danziger, '00, Jessica Demian, Karla DeVries, '04, Inga Kiderrra, Paul Mueller. |
