High hopes for breeding Fota’s new stable of seahorses
Fota Wildlife Park is planning to breed seahorses following the arrival of a dozen juveniles which are sure to become a big attraction at its Tropical House.
Seven male and five female pot-bellied seahorses, one of the largest breeds of seahorses in the world, have been acquired by the Co Cork wildlife amenity from L’ Oceanográfic in Valencia, Spain.
Averaging about 30cm in length, the seahorses (Hippocampus abdominalis) are becoming endangered, mainly as a result of traditional Chinese medicine merchants who are estimated to take 150m of the species from the wild every year for use in all types of remedies.
Fota’s animal care manager, Miguel Bueno, said the park was delighted to be able to exhibit seahorses for the first time at the venue.
“Seahorses are hugely popular with the public as these animals are so unique and unusual and their distinctive characteristics totally set them apart from other fish,” said Mr Bueno.
He said it was apt that an announcement of their arrival was made yesterday, Valentine’s Day, as seahorses pair for life.
All 12 seahorses are around one-year-old and yet to reach sexual maturity.
“We hope to breed the pot-bellied seahorses once they do reach adulthood,” said Mr Bueno.
“We have created a seaweed habitat in an aquarium specially designed for their needs which is set at a temperature of 17°C.
Even though there are 12 of them, their camouflage is so effective our visitors will need to allow more time to spot them.
Pot-bellied seahorses lives in a range of habitats from shallow areas of seagrass to deeper sponge gardens in Australia and New Zealand.
They feed on a variety of small crustaceans that are mainly found around their seaweed habitats.
Male seahorses are the only creatures where the male has a true reversed pregnancy. The female transfers her eggs to the male which he self-fertilises in his pouch.
The number of eggs can vary from 50-150 for smaller species to 1,500 for larger species.
They receive everything they need in the pouch from oxygen to food. Gestation time varies from 14 days to four weeks.
Meanwhile, the wildlife park said it was saddened to announce the death of its oldest male, the Rothschild’s giraffe Wally, which is a highly endangered species.
The 18-year-old giraffe died suddenly earlier this week.
He had been part of the Fota herd for eight years and was greatly loved by park rangers and the public alike. He is survived by four female offspring.
