All fish / Syngnathidae

Sea Pony

Hippocampus fuscus

Also known as sea pony, brown seahorse, red sea seahorse, yellow seahorse, hippocampus kuda, kuda seahorse, spotted seahorse, ม้าน้ำ, kuda laut, タツノオトシゴ, 棕海马

This is a medium-sized seahorse with a smooth body and only low knobs, and its colour ranges from bright yellow to brown or black. It was long sold as Hippocampus kuda and is popular because captive-bred stock adapts to frozen food more readily than wild fish. Keepers enjoy its calm nature and the way it grips plants and holdfasts with its tail.

Care at a glance

Care level

Hard

Temperament

Peaceful

Adult size

12 cm

Temperature

22 to 27 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

110 litres

Keep as

A pair or small group, kept only with seahorses or very calm tankmates

Diet

Carnivore: frozen mysis shrimp, enriched live brine shrimp and amphipods, fed several times a day

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

3 to 5 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Red Sea and northwestern Indian Ocean, including the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea and coasts of East Africa and India

Breeding

The female passes her eggs to the male, who carries them in his brood pouch for about two weeks before releasing many tiny live young. Spawning happens readily in a settled pair, but raising the fry needs a steady supply of rotifers and newly hatched live food, so it is a real challenge.

Good to know

All seahorses are on CITES Appendix II, so buy captive-bred fish with proper paperwork. Do not keep them with fast, aggressive feeders or stinging corals and anemones, and look out for bacterial infections in warm water.