Mysterious sea horses are faithful partners for life

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.