All fish / Syngnathidae

White's Seahorse

Hippocampus whitei

Also known as whites seahorse, sydney seahorse, new holland seahorse, crowned seahorse, white seahorse, ホワイトシーホース, 怀氏海马

White's Seahorse is a small to medium seahorse with a tall coronet and colours that range from pale yellow and cream to dark brown, often with fine white speckling. It lives in seagrass beds, sponge gardens and around jetty nets in estuaries near Sydney. Keepers value it as a hardy, captive-bred temperate seahorse that settles well and takes frozen food.

Care at a glance

Care level

Hard

Temperament

Peaceful

Adult size

11 cm

Temperature

18 to 24 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

110 litres

Keep as

A pair or small group in a species tank

Diet

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

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

3 to 5 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Eastern Australia, coastal New South Wales and southern Queensland

Breeding

Males carry the eggs in a brood pouch after courtship and release fully formed young after about three weeks. Captive breeding is quite routine, but rearing the tiny fry needs live foods such as rotifers and newly hatched brine shrimp.

Good to know

All seahorses are listed on CITES Appendix II, and wild collection is controlled in Australia, where this species is also listed as endangered, so buy only captive-bred stock. Keep it with slow, peaceful tankmates and cooler water, since warm tropical tanks and fast feeders cause stress and disease.