Mysterious sea horses are faithful partners for life

By Gayatri R. Lilley

JAKARTA (JP): The light was fading as I looked at my dive gauges. My air supply was almost finished. I had spent 50 minutes at six meters, diving in sea grass beds in the waters of Irian Jaya's Teluk Cendrawasih Marine National Park, and there was still no sign of sea horses.

Diving with the very specific purpose of photographing wild sea horses is not easily done. These tiny creatures are well camouflaged among the waving sea grass fronds. A friend suggested that it would be easier to photograph them in aquarium shops. She may well be right.

Finally, at my second dive at five meters, this cute creature appeared just at the right side of my camera lens. I was in luck!

It was a male sea horse, about as long as my hand, black, with saddle-like clear markings along his back. Entranced by this tiny elegant creature, I completely forgot my original intention to photograph him.

Sea horses are among the most unique fish living in the sea. In Indonesia, state-owned oil company Pertamina uses it as its symbol.

Sea horses are also an important component of various kinds of traditional medicine.

In Europe, sea horses were traditionally used for curing all kinds of diseases, and were thought to be the most effective medicine against fever, coughs and colds. Reports on European medicine using sea horses predate their use in traditional Chinese medicine.

Nowadays, sea horses are mostly used in traditional Chinese medicines, but are also important ingredients in traditional Indonesian jamu herbal medicine.

It is readily available on the streets of Jakarta, and the jamu sellers often seen carrying basketfuls of bottles containing yellow liquid offer jamu kuda laut specially for men.

One vendor tried to convince me that "This is good to increase your partner's sexual desire". As well as treating impotence, sea horse herbal medicine is believed to heal all kinds of other illnesses, including asthma, arthritis, heart disease and kidney problems.

Sea horses are harvested from shallow temperate and tropical waters in the wild. Their natural habitats are mangroves, coral reefs and sea grass beds, where they are most commonly found.

Banten

They move very slowly, and sometimes use their spiral prehensile tails to cling on to the same sea grass leaves for weeks at a time.

In Teluk Banten, where the sea grass beds are extensive, sea horses are harvested in hundreds of rice bags.

Sea horses are also caught live for the aquarium fish trade. The bright color of sea horses and their elegant swimming attract aquarium hobbyists.

The price of live sea horses on the local aquarium fish market in Jakarta depends on the size and color.

The size varies from one cm to 30 cm, and a medium sized yellow sea horse costs Rp 2,500 to Rp 10,000 (up to US$3).

In Britain, a live yellow sea horse can cost up to 9 (Rp 40,000).

Indonesia is one of the biggest exporters of live sea horses, and a recent report on the fish traded from Indonesia noted that hundreds of thousands of sea horses are exported annually. But they are not on the protected species list here.

Aquarists say sea horses do not live well in captivity, and usually die soon after being bought from aquarium shops.

The sea horse is a voracious predator in miniature, using its trumpet-shaped mouth to suddenly suck in tiny live moving food, such as crabs, shrimps, plankton and sometimes small fish.

Sea horses are also big eaters, feeding almost continuously, and requiring clear water with good circulation.

Lack of adequate food and sufficiently clean water are two reasons why sea horses don't live well in captivity.

Another interesting aspect of their life history is that sea horses form faithful pairs and bond for life. They mate frequently during the mating season but only with the same partner, a rarity in the animal kingdom.

The female injects the eggs into the male's brood pouch, where they are fertilized, so that it is the male sea horse who becomes the pregnant father. He looks after the eggs, which take from 10 days to six weeks to hatch.

The male sea horse gives birth to 100 or more tiny offspring, which swim away and take their chances alone from this point on.

Scientists are studying sea horses all over the world to find out more about their natural history -- including why the male gets pregnant and how they got their shape.

The results of sea horse studies have given us more information about the threats to this animal.

During harvesting time, it may occur that the sea horse pairs are separated; if the male sea horses are the ones that are caught, the reproduction cycles will be interrupted.

Sea horse scientists and hobbyists say that this fish still cannot be easily reared in captivity, although efforts are being made to captive-breed sea horses in several countries, including Indonesia.

In the meantime, the exploitation of sea horses from the wild is still increasing rapidly.

Priority

The other major threat to sea horse populations is the loss of their natural habitat of sea grass beds, mangroves and coral reefs.

It has become a priority for World Wide Fund For Nature to protect and conserve these marine habitats. However, the road to achieve the full protection of these marine habitats from various threats -- such as the use of destructive fishing methods, land conversion, land-based pollution, and uncontrolled coastal development -- seems to have no end. It needs political will, even if only to save the sea horse from the extinction.

For some of us at least, it will be a tragedy if sea horses become extinct because of the thoughtless way in which they are overexploited.

The traditional medicine users, both the producers and the consumers, will be the ones affected directly.

Aquarium hobbyists might not care after all because they can still buy other species.

But sea horses are part of a bigger sea grass ecosystem, and the loss of sea horse populations may adversely affect other species in this community, leading to greater biodiversity loss.

It would be a pity if this funny little fish which is so well known disappears forever.

The writer is coordinator for marine conservation at the World Wide Fund for Nature here.