TankBud

White's seahorse

Hippocampus whitei

Also known as Sydney Seahorse, Crowned Seahorse

SaltwaterFish

White's seahorse (Hippocampus whitei)
Richard Ling · CC BY-SA 2.0

Care at a glance

Temperature
68–75°F
20–24°C
pH
8.1–8.4
Adult size
6.3 in
16 cm
Minimum tank
30 gal
114 L
Temperament
Peaceful
Social behavior
Social
Tankmates
With caution
Swim level
Middle
Diet
Carnivore
Difficulty
Difficult
Breeding
Pouch brooder · Medium
Rarity
Very rare
Reef safe
Reef safe with caution
Family
Syngnathidae
Origin
Eastern Australia, Queensland to New South Wales

Overview

White's seahorse is a peaceful, cool-water seahorse for a calm tank. It needs an experienced keeper.

Did you know

White's seahorse has help from Australian conservation teams, which now anchor artificial seahorse hotels for it. The teams also release hatchery-raised young to rebuild wild numbers.

Caring for the White's seahorse

Give White's seahorse a calm tank of at least 30 gal (114 L), with plenty of anchor points for its tail. It prefers water a touch cooler than a typical reef display, at 68 to 75°F (20 to 24°C). Keep the pH at 8.1 to 8.4.

Like other seahorses, it hitches to a holdfast with its tail and ambushes tiny crustaceans. Feed several small meals of frozen mysis a day.

White's seahorse is peaceful and fine alone or in a group, but choose its tank mates with caution. It is reef safe with caution.

Pairs stay together through the spring to autumn breeding season. The male broods 100 to 250 eggs in his pouch for roughly three weeks, then releases fully formed young. Breeding them is moderately difficult.

Good to know

White's seahorse belongs to the family Syngnathidae and wears a tall, five-pointed coronet on its head. It is endangered in the wild, where New South Wales populations have been hit hard by the loss of seagrass and soft coral. Only captive-bred stock is traded.

In the wild

White's seahorse is endemic to eastern Australia, from southern Queensland to the New South Wales coast. It lives in estuaries and bays among seagrass, macroalgae, sponges, gorgonians and soft corals. It also settles on jetty pylons and the mesh of harbor swimming nets, and Sydney's harbor is one of its strongholds.

Common questions

What size tank does a White's seahorse need?

A White's seahorse needs at least 30 gal (114 L). It spends most of its time in the middle.

What temperature and pH does a White's seahorse need?

A White's seahorse is comfortable at 68–75°F (20–24°C) with a pH of 8.1–8.4.

What does a White's seahorse eat?

A White's seahorse ambushes tiny crustaceans, and in the tank it eats frozen mysis. Offer several small feeds a day.

How big does a White's seahorse get?

An adult White's seahorse reaches about 6.3 in (16 cm).

How can you tell a male White's seahorse from a female?

Males have a brood pouch, where they carry the eggs, and females do not.

How does a White's seahorse breed?

White's seahorse pairs stay together through the spring to autumn breeding season. The male broods 100 to 250 eggs in his pouch for about three weeks, then releases fully formed young. Breeding them is moderately difficult.

Related species