Growth, Reproductive Performances, and Brood Quality of Long Snout Seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus , Fed Enriched Shrimp Diets

This investigation examined the effect of using enriched shrimp (Atlantic ditch shrimp, Palaemonetes varians ) diets on growth of long snout seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus , and its effect on the reproduction rate and brood quality. Three diets were (1) natural wild‐caught shrimp (natural shrimp diet‐control diet), (2) wild‐caught shrimp fed an artificial feed for 10 d (enriched shrimp diet), and (3) wild‐caught shrimp fed one large meal of artificial diet and immediately frozen (ingested artificial feed shrimp diet). These diets were fed to seahorses during a 12‐wk growth trial. At the end, significant differences on the final wet weight were found between seahorses fed the three different treatments ( P < 0.009). Seahorses fed ingested artificial feed shrimp diet had more broods (9), generated more juveniles per brood (299 ± 87), and significantly bigger juveniles (12.4 ± 1 mm) than seahorses fed natural shrimp diet and enriched shrimp diet. Significant differences in the morphometry of juveniles hatched from parents fed the three different dietary treatments (Wilk's λ = 0.2, F (6,460) = 47.41, P < 0.0001) were also found. Results indicate that the combined use of a natural diet (shrimp) and an artificial diet benefit growth and feed utilization by seahorses and have a direct impact on the reproductive rate and brood quality of H . guttulatus .