Mary Allen
In zoos, seahorses are aquatic creatures that audiences love to see. The extraordinary animals only rarely swim in private aquariums. Keeping and breeding them is a real challenge.
Yellow, orange, black, white, spotted, plain, or with stripes – seahorses (hippocampus) are beautiful to look at. They appear proud and yet shy, with their straight posture and slightly bowed heads. Their body size varies from tiny to an impressive 35 centimeters. In Greek mythology, the Hippocampus, literally translated as horse caterpillar, was considered the creature that pulled the chariot of Poseidon, god of the sea.
Seahorses only live in sluggish waters, mainly in the seas around South Australia and New Zealand. But there are also a few seahorse species in the Mediterranean, on the Atlantic coast, in the English Channel, and in the Black Sea. A total of up to 80 different species are suspected. In the wild, they prefer to stay in seagrass meadows near the coast, in shallow water areas of mangrove forests, or on coral reefs.
The Graceful Animals are Threatened
Because seahorses move so slowly, you might think they are the perfect aquarium animals. But far from it: seahorses are among the more sensitive fish that you can bring into your home. If anyone knows how difficult it is to keep the animals alive and in a way that is appropriate to their species, then Markus Bühler from Eastern Switzerland from Rorschach SG. He is one of the few successful private seahorse breeders in Switzerland.
When Markus Bühler begins to talk about seahorses, he can hardly be stopped. Even as a small boy he was enthusiastic about aquaristics. So it’s no wonder that he became a commercial fisherman. Seawater aquaristics fascinated him more and more, which is why he came into contact with seahorses for the first time. It was all about him when he was diving in Indonesia. “The graceful animals captivated me immediately.”
It quickly became clear to Bühler that he not only wanted to keep seahorses but also wanted to do something for them. Because all species of these very special fish are threatened – mainly by humans. Their most important habitats, the seagrass forests, are being destroyed; they end up in fishing nets and die. In China and Southeast Asia, they are considered dried and crushed as a potency-enhancing agent.
But the trade-in live seahorses are also flourishing. Many tourists are tempted to take a few animals home in a plastic bag as a souvenir. They are fished out of the sea, packed in plastic bags by dubious dealers, and sold or sent by post like a commodity. “Simply cruel,” says Bühler. And strictly forbidden! Anyone who takes seahorses that are protected under the “CITES” species protection agreement across the Swiss border without an import permit will quickly pay a horrendous fine.
When they come – usually in bad condition, as they are exported without quarantine and feed adjustment – to people who previously had no idea about keeping seahorses, they are as good as doomed to die. Because seahorses are not beginner animals. According to statistics, only one in five new seahorse owners manages to keep the animals for more than half a year.
Anyone who orders seahorses online or brings them back from vacation should be happy if the animals survive at least a few days or weeks. The animals are usually severely weakened and susceptible to bacteria. “No wonder,” says Markus Bühler, “imported animals have come a long way. Catch, way to the fishing station, way to the wholesaler, then to the dealer, and finally to the buyer at home.»
Bühler would like to prevent such odysseys by covering the demand with affordable, healthy offspring from Switzerland together with other reputable breeders. Since he also knows how important it would be for seahorse keepers to have a specialist as a contact person, the Rorschach is also active on Internet forums under the name “Fischerjoe” to give advice.
Seahorses Like Live Food
Even employees at pet shops often don’t understand enough about seahorses, says Bühler. Buying the animals from an experienced private breeder is therefore usually the better choice. Bühler: «But never without CITES papers! Keep your hands off the purchase if a breeder promises the papers later or claims they don’t need them in Switzerland.”
Not only keeping young animals in aquariums, but even breeding them is extremely demanding, and the maintenance effort is enormous. Bühler devotes several hours a day to his seahorses and the rearing of the “foals”, as the young animals are also called. The effort and the associated high price is one of the reasons why cheap imported animals dominate the market and not the offspring.
The food, in particular, is a difficult chapter in seahorse husbandry – not only for wild-caught animals who are used to live food and are very reluctant to switch to frozen food. Bühler cultivates zooplankton for his “foals”. Once they have survived the critical first few weeks, however, captive-bred animals are generally more stable and long-lived than wild-caught animals. They are healthy and feed fast, and they are also adapted to the conditions in the aquarium.
The Dream of the Seahorse Zoo
The heat, however, can make life difficult for both animals and breeders. “The problems begin as soon as the water temperature differs by two degrees,” says Bühler. “If the rooms heat up, it becomes difficult to keep the water at a constant 25 degrees.” Seahorses die because of this. At temperatures above 30 degrees, even the fans can’t do much.
Markus Bühler’s big dream is an international station, a seahorse zoo. Although this project is still a long way off, he is not giving up. «At the moment I’m trying to do something for the animals with tips on the internet and by personally supporting owners. Because my many years of experience are usually worth more than theory from books.» But one day, he hopes, he will guide school classes, clubs, and other interested parties through the seahorse zoo and show them how worthy of protection these fabulous creatures are.