Open AccessGrowth, Survivorship, Air‐bubble Disease, and Attachment of Feeble Juvenile Seahorses, Hippocampus kuda (Bleeker, 1852)
Author(s) -
Zhang Yanhong,
Qin Geng,
Lin Junda,
Lin Qiang
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of the world aquaculture society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1749-7345
pISSN - 0893-8849
DOI - 10.1111/jwas.12193
Subject(s) - seahorse , biology , juvenile , zoology , survivorship curve , fishery , ecology , genetics , cancer
Seahorse aquaculture has been a focus for meeting the demand of traditional medicine and aquarium. Feeble (poor quality) juveniles are commonly found in the commercial seahorse culture. In this study, we compared the growth and survival performances of the feeble and healthy common seahorses Hippocampus kuda . The results show that the feeble juveniles had high growth and survival at the temperature of 27–29 C and salinity of 26–28‰ with frequent feeding (≥three times a day) during first 5 wk. Through a 12‐wk investigation, we found that the air‐bubble disease could significantly affect the specific growth rate and survival of the feeble juveniles. There was a positive and significant correlation between the substrate‐attachment rate and survival rate in the feeble juveniles, and substrate‐attachment rate may be used to assess the quality of the feeble populations in the seahorse H. kuda .