Effect of salinity on growth and survival of seahorse Hippocampus reidi during the nursery fase

• Grant number: 14/18277-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2014
• End date: November 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Fishery Resources and Fishery Engineering - Aquaculture
• Principal Investigator: Wagner Cotroni Valenti
• Grantee: Stefany Almeida Pereira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB-CLP). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus Experimental do Litoral Paulista. São Vicente , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Seahorses are fish that belong to the genus Hippocampus and are traded mainly for aquariums, traditional Chinese medicine and as souvenirs. Due to its economic interest, several species have been overexploited for commercial purposes. Aquaculture of seahorses emerged as an alternative for capture, but there are still bottlenecks, mainly the low survival in the nursery phase. Seahorses tolerate wide range of salinity, but few studies evaluated the influence of salinity in the cultivation of newborn juveniles. This project aims to test the hypothesis that salinity affects the growth and survival of newborn juveniles of Hippocampus reidi during the nursery phase. It will be performed an experiment in completely randomized design with four treatments and four replicates. The newborns will be stocked in 16 beakers with 2L of water at salinities 5, 10, 20 and 30 for 15-20 days. Survival and growth will be evaluated to determine the optimal salinity for cultivation.