Marine amphipods as potential live food for the cultivation of the seahorse Hippocampus reidi Ginsburg, 1933

• Grant number: 22/16269-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2023
• End date: March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Fishery Resources and Fishery Engineering - Aquaculture
• Principal Investigator: Tânia Marcia Costa
• Grantee: Eduardo Kenyu Okido Matsumoto
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB-CLP). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus Experimental do Litoral Paulista. São Vicente , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Ornamental aquaculture is a sector that has been showing significant growth, being an activity that can contribute to reduce the pressure on wild stocks, species conservation and scientific research. In Brazil, population of the seahorse Hippocampus reidi have been declining due to environmental degradation and fishing pressure promoted by the ornamental trade. Considered the fifth most exported species between 2011 and 2018 from Brazil, H. reidi is listed in the vulnerable category on the list of endangered animals. Therefore, the cultivation of this fish can be an alternative to reconcile its trade and preservation. However, one of the bottlenecks found in its cultivation is the lack of a high-quality food that is easily accepted for H. reidi, as they do not accept dry commercial feed, making feeding one of the main points to be investigated. Seahorses naturally prey on and consume a variety of crustaceans, such as copepods, shrimp, and amphipods, the latter of which constitute a considerable component of their natural diet. Previous studies consider amphipods as a high quality and nutritional food, easy to cultivate, low production cost and expressive potential use as a live food. Thus, laboratory assays of food intake and growth performance will be conducted using different species of amphipods that co-occur in the natural habitat of H. reidi as potential live food in its cultivation. The present study will contribute to develop a technological package for the H. reidi cultivation, helping the conservation of the species.