World Aquaculture Society (WAS) 2010
ECOLOGY AND AQUACULTURE OF LINED SEAHORSE
Hippocampus erectus Perry, 1810
QIANG LIN, JUNDA LIN
Key Laboratory of Marine Bio-resources Sustainable Utilization
SCSIO., CAS., Guangzhou 510301, P. R. China
Vero Beach Marine Laboratory. Florida Institute of Technology
Vero Beach, Florida 32963, U.S.A.
[email protected] / [email protected]
WAS 2010, San Diego, USA
Many research works…
Reproduction
Seahorse Aquaculture
survivorship
Weaning
Growth
WAS 2010, San Diego, USA
Background
Seahorse (Hippocampus) is a unique
fish, and it distributes throughout the
world, especially south-east Asian
regions (27/33 species).
Habitats: shallow sea water
– Seagrass
– Coral reefs
– Mangroves
WAS 2010, San Diego, USA
Background
Economical value
Chinese traditional medicine (CTM),
ornamentals, curios and health
products etc.（unit price $20-70 in
USA）
International trade
China is the largest import country of
seahorses (e.g., in 2000, the trade
was 50 tons, but from 2005, it was
170 tons every year).
Wild resource
There are 33 species throughout the
world, and 9 species in China (3 are
used for culture), all are endangered
and under CITES II.
WAS 2010, San Diego, USA
Background
Research works
Adult seahorses
(especially for parent seahorses)
Many works focused on biological
study, e.g sexual selection, ecological
evolution, and few on aquaculture.
Sub-adults
A few studies on growth and gonad
development, nutritional composition.
Juveniles
Extensive works on survival and
culture technique, and on biology.
WAS 2010 — Parental seahorse
1、Reproduction
Hippocampus kuda,
H. trimaculatus,
H. histrix,
H. erectus,
H. reidi
Comparison among species
F2
gestation time (d) brood size body size (cm)
H. kuda
H. trima
H. histr
H. erectus
H. reidi
21
465
1.02
26
637
0.94
23
527
1.08
17
411
1.15
26
879
0.74
（Lin et al., 2006; 2007; 2008a, Aquaculture）
WAS 2010 — Parental seahorse
Exp. 1
Effect of generation on reproductive efficiency…
Parameters
F2: H. erectus
F5: H. erectus
F8: H. erectus
Parent size (cm)
18.5±1.2
19.3±2.3
18.1±1.7
Mating time (d)
3.8±1.4
3.1±1.7
2.3±0.9
Gestation time (d)
17.5±2.8
23.6±4.4
24.5±5.3
Brood size (inds)
411±67
405±103
352±96
Juvenile size (cm)
1.15±0.08
1.01±0.17
1.05±0.12
Survivorship (%)
81.5±5.2
77.5±3.7
70.7±10.4
For parents, the males and females in the same size were used in the above experiment
（Lin et al., 2010, unpublished data ）
WAS 2010 — Parental seahorse
Exp. 2
Reproductive efficiency…
RUNNING F3:
Effect of culture depth
on the reproductive
efficiency was studied
in three months
The higher the depth was,
the better in reproduction!!
Brood size (inds)
Juvenile size (cm)
Survivorship (%)
0.8 m
0.6 m
0.4 m
0.2 m
78±24
1.16±0.06
69.7±11.2
218±52
1.08±0.13
73.8±7.7
391±46
1.07±0.08
84.2±4.6
402±72
1.11±0.12
82.8±6.1
（Lin et al., 2010, unpublished data ）
WAS 2010 — Juvenile seahorse
2、Juvenile research
On growth and survivorship…
Environmental factors（Temperature,
salinity, light intensity, stocking density
and DO, respectively）
Nutritional factors（Copepods, Artemia,
Rotifer（enriched by PUFA, micro-algae,
Vb and Biotin, respectively））
Others，some macro-algae, CTM, drugs……
（Lin et al., 2006a. Aquaculture）
（Lin et al., 2007a. Aquaculture）
（J. Sheng, Q. Lin et al., 2006b. Aquaculture）
（J. Sheng, Q. Lin et al., 2007b. Aquaculture）
（Lin et al., 2008a. Aquaculture）
（Lin et al., 2008b. Aquaculture Research）
（Lin et al., 2009a. Aquaculture Research）
WAS 2010 — Juvenile seahorse
Exp. 3
Enriched diets
Artemia nauplii (0.04±0.012 cm )
Survival rate (%)
100
90
80
70
60
PUFA:
fish oil emulsion SUPER
SELCO® (0.3 ml/L)
CHL
This Exp. was run in 3 weeks.
PUFA
CHL
PLM
PUFA/CHL
PUFA
CHL
PLM
PUFA/ CHL
4. 5
Standard body length (cm
CHL: Chlorella spp. (85 mg/L)
PLM: Platymonus spp. (100 mg/L)
PUFA/CHL: mixture of PUFA and
50
4
3. 5
3
2. 5
2
Effect of enriched diets on survivorship and growth
WAS 2010 — Juvenile seahorse
Exp. 3
Growth under different factors…
(c)
0.05
0.16
5
0.14
4.5
3.5
0.03
0.02
3
2.5
0.08
2
0.06
X max =4.64 (L=1320 Lux)
Wet weight
0.04
X max =28.1
0.01
0.1
Standard length
0.02
0
X max =4.90 (L=1450 Lux)
25
27
29
31
T emperature (℃)
33
35
1
0.5
0
23
1.5
Standard length (cm)
4
0.12
0.04
Wet weight (g)
Weight increment (g)
Y = - 0.0013x 2 + 0.073x - 0.9952 (r 2 = 0.9886)
0
1,(50)
2,(100) 3,(500) 4,(1000) 5,(1500) 6,(2000) 7,(2500) 8,(3000)
Light intensity (Lux)
Effect of light intensity and temperature on the growth
（Lin et al., 2008b. Aquaculture Research）
（Lin et al., 2008c. J. the Worl Aqua. Soci）
WAS 2010 — Juvenile seahorse
Exp. 4
Air bubble disease
1. Body skin: Induced by
water quality (happened in
adults, juveniles) (see right)
2. Gut: Might be induced by
light intensity, temperature,
food conditions (juveniles)
100
90
80
Percentage (%)
70
60
Survival rate
50
Air-bubble disease rate
40
Light intensity, temperature,
air bubble disease and survivorship
30
20
10
0
1,(50)
（Lin et al., 2009b. Aquaculture Research ）
2,(100)
3,(500)
4,(1000) 5,(1500) 6,(2000) 7,(2500) 8,(3000)
Light intensity (Lux)
WAS 2010 — Juvenile seahorse
A mode of juvenile seahorse culture
WAS 2010 — Weaning juvenile
3、Weaning Juveniles
Exp. 5
70 dph
63 dph
5 Treatments were used…
56 dph
T42, T49 had negative growth
(weight).
T70 had a significant weight
increment.
T56, T63 had normal growth
(weaning duration, food
consume)
For this specie, 60 dph
was the best time to wean
from live diets to frozen
food
49 dph
42 dph
Growth
Effect of juveniles’ age…
（Lin et al., 2009c. Aquaculture）
WAS 2010 — Weaning juvenile
Exp. 6
Relationship between the body size and weaning
Increment ratio
(b)
10
Standard length (cm)
9
8
Ts
T ms
7
Tm
Tl
6
5
4
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
T ime (day)
Ts
Tms
Tm
Tl
The larger size, the better,
but the cost is also higher!!!
Effect of the body size…
（Lin et al., 2009c. Aquaculture）
WAS 2010 — Weaning juvenile
SO……
These experiments showed that the body size was the
key factor for weaning the juveniles from live diets to
frozen food.
Generally, it will be a proper time to wean the juveniles
when they are 0.54-0.73g in wet weight, 6.59-7.46 cm
in standard body length (approximately 60 dpp)
(Lined seahorses H. erectus)
WAS 2010 — Sub-adult seahorse
4、Growth of the sub-adults
Exp. 8
Environmental conditions…
10
8
18
9
7
16
7
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
1
100
0.25
14
12
0.15
8
Wet weight increment
1
2
0
0
1000
1500
Light intensity (Lux)
2000
2500
Standard length
Length of brood pouch
Ratio of brood pouch
6
Standard length increment
500
0.2
10
2
0
0.3
4
Ratio
6
Standard length (cm)
8
Increment of wet weight (g)
Increment of standard length (cm)
(b)
0.1
0.05
0
1 time
2 times
3 times
4 times
Feeding rhythm (time/day)
Effect of light intensity and feeding frequency on the growth...
（Lin et al., 2009d. Aquaculture）
WAS 2010 — Sub-adult seahorse
Exp. 8
Environmental conditions…
(a)
(a)
10
10
9
8
Incremental weight
Initial wet weight
Incremental weight
8
Initial wet weight
7
Wet weight (g)
Wet weight (g)
7
9
6
5
4
6
5
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
0
35
33
31
Salinity (‰)
29
27
0
1.5
1
0.5
0.25
Stocking density (Inds/tank)
Effect of salinity and stocking density on the growth...
（Lin et al., 2009d. Aquaculture）
WAS 2010 — Sub-adult seahorse
Exp. 9
Males and females…
(a)
9
S24(male)
8
S24(female)
Wet weight (g)
7
S4(male)
6
S4(female)
5
4
3
2
1
0
84
91
98
105
112
119
126
133
140
147
154
Age (day)
Growth of the male and female seahorses...
（Lin et al., 2009d. Aquaculture）
WAS 2010 — Sub-adult seahorse
Exp. 9
Brood pouch development…
(b)
16
0.2
14
High stocking density
can stimulate brood
pouch development of
male seahorses.
0.16
12
10
0.12
8
Ratio
Standard length (cm)
Stocking density
(Space competition?)
Standard length
Brood pouch length
6
0.08
Ratio of brood pouch
4
0.04
2
0
0
1.5
1
0.5
0.25
Stocking density (Inds/tank)
Effect of stocking density on brood pouch size...
（Lin et al., 2009d. Aquaculture）
WAS 2010 —Seahorse Aquaculture
CONCLUSIONS
Improving reproductive efficiency and survivorship of
early juveniles are both needed to realize large-scale
seahorse aquaculture.
Lined seahorse, Hippocampus erectus is an important
seahorse species for commercial culture.
SEAHORSE PROJECT —Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
All the research work was carried out at the Vero Beach Marine
Laboratory, Vero Beach, Florida, USA and Zhanjiang seahorse research
center, Guangdong, PR.China.
Dr. Dong Zhang Marine Laboratory. Florida Institute of Technology
Vero Beach, Florida, U.S.A.
Seahorse research was sponsored by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China, the Special Grade of the financial support
from China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, Guangdong Oceanic
and Fisheries Science and technology Foundation and China
Postdoctoral Science Foundation.
THE END
THANKS
Vero Beach