All fish / Syngnathidae

Longsnout Seahorse

Hippocampus reidi

Also known as slender seahorse, brazilian seahorse, reidi seahorse, long-snout seahorse, longsnout seahorse, caribbean seahorse, ม้าน้ำ, kuda laut, ブラジリアンシーホース, 长吻海马, 巴西海马

A slim seahorse with a long snout and a curling tail, found in yellow, orange, red, black and brown, often marked with small dark spots and pale flecks. Keepers like it for its bright colour forms and its calm, upright swimming, and captive-bred animals take frozen food readily.

Care at a glance

Care level

Hard

Temperament

Peaceful

Adult size

15 cm

Temperature

22 to 26 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

110 litres

Keep as

A pair or small group in a seahorse-only tank

Diet

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

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

3 to 5 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Western Atlantic: North Carolina and the Caribbean to southern Brazil

Breeding

The female passes her eggs into the male's brood pouch, and he gives birth to hundreds of tiny young after about two weeks. Adults breed readily in captivity, but the young drift in open water for weeks and need rotifers and newly hatched brine shrimp, so raising them is hard.

Good to know

All seahorses are on CITES Appendix II, so trade needs permits and captive-bred stock is the better choice. Keep them away from fast or nippy tankmates, anemones and strong currents, and give them hitching posts.