Seahorse Predation by Octopuses in the Caribbean and the West Pacific

Muller, Ellen; Harasti, David; Hoeksema, Bert W.

doi:10.3390/d14020125

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 19 publications

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“…The predators observed attacking the captivebred seahorses included three species of cephalopods (Octopus tetricus, Sepia plangon and Sepioteuthis australis) and juveniles of the fish Nelusetta ayraud. It has previously been documented that O. tetricus is a predator of H. whitei (Muller et al, 2022), as are S. plangon and N. ayraud (Harasti et al, 2014a). As the hotels were designed to exclude predators by providing an enclosure for the seahorses to hide in, they provided a higher level of protection compared to the swimming net where predators have 'open access' to the seahorses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Effectiveness of Conservation Stocking for the Endangered White’s Seahorse Hippocampus whitei

Harasti

Brennan²,

Booth³

2022

Front. Mar. Sci.

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The White’s seahorse Hippocampus whitei was listed as an Endangered species in 2020 on Australian state and federal legislation, as a result of population declines across its range attributed to habitat loss over the past decade. A captive-bred reintroduction program has been implemented as a possible management tool for species recovery, however, the viability of such a reintroduction program for seahorses has not been assessed to date. This study implemented a pilot captive-breeding program using adult H. whitei from Sydney Harbour, Australia, as brood stock. A total of 90 captive-bred seahorses were released into the wild on two different artificial habitat types (“seahorse hotels” and protective swimming net). Following release, a monthly post-release monitoring program was implemented for 12 months that involved underwater visual census surveys of the tagged seahorses. Sightings of captive-bred seahorse numbers were found to gradually decline over the 12-month period, with fewer seahorses found on the swimming net compared to the seahorse hotels and higher resighting probability of captive-bred animals on the seahorse hotels. After 12 months, 20% of the captive-bred seahorses were detected on the seahorse hotels, whilst two individuals were still observed 18 months after release on the hotels. Only 2% of captive-bred seahorses were observed on the swimming net after 12 months, with two individuals still detected on the net after two years. Nine of the captive-bred seahorses were found to reproduce in the wild, with two individuals observed mating with the wild population. This pilot study indicates that captive-bred seahorses can survive for up to two years in the wild, as well as contribute to local population recovery through reproductive success. However, while conservation stocking shows promise as a potential management tool to assist with threatened seahorse species recovery, there are several factors such as existing threats to the species that need to be addressed before such a program is implemented.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Effectiveness of Conservation Stocking for the Endangered White’s Seahorse Hippocampus whitei

Harasti

Brennan²,

Booth³

2022

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Food to go: prey on the web of Octopus maya reveals its diet

Markaida

2023

Mar Biol

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Hydrodynamic analysis of the upright swimming of seahorse

Li,

Chen,

Tang

et al. 2024

Physics of Fluids

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The seahorse is the only creature in the ocean that can maintain an upright posture while swimming. This paper mainly discusses the hydrodynamic characteristics and the flow field structure of the seahorse when it swims upright. Using a three-dimensional seahorse model, numerical simulations of self-propelled swimming are conducted by establishing the kinematic equations of its dorsal fin. The focus is on elucidating the effects of the undulation frequency and the inclination angle on swimming performance. The results indicate that a higher undulation frequency of the dorsal fin leads to better acceleration performance, or in other words, greater hydrodynamic forces. The inclination angle of the seahorse's body also directly affects its hydrodynamics and the flow field structure. Unlike other fish that swim horizontally, the seahorse generates forward and upward thrust as the flow field simultaneously spreads backward and downward. Since the upright posture makes the forward thrust much smaller than the upward one, the seahorse has low efficiency in forward propulsion when swimming upright. As the inclination angle decreases, the forward thrust gradually increases and exceeds the upward force, which allows for a rapid improvement in the swimming velocity. The simulation findings of this study are consistent with previous experimental observations.

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Seahorse Predation by Octopuses in the Caribbean and the West Pacific

Cited by 3 publications

References 19 publications

Assessing the Effectiveness of Conservation Stocking for the Endangered White’s Seahorse Hippocampus whitei

Assessing the Effectiveness of Conservation Stocking for the Endangered White’s Seahorse Hippocampus whitei

Food to go: prey on the web of Octopus maya reveals its diet

Hydrodynamic analysis of the upright swimming of seahorse

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