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: Tankmates with caution
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Very rare
Reef safe: Reef safe with caution
Origin: Eastern Australia, Queensland to New South Wales
Family: Syngnathidae

Overview

Like other seahorses it hitches to a holdfast with its tail and ambushes tiny crustaceans, so it needs a calm tank, plenty of anchor points and several small feeds of frozen mysis a day. It prefers water a touch cooler than a typical reef display.

In the wild

Endemic to eastern Australia from southern Queensland to the New South Wales coast, living in estuaries and bays among seagrass, macroalgae, sponges, gorgonians and soft corals. It also settles on jetty pylons and the mesh of harbour swimming nets, and Sydney Harbour is one of its strongholds.

Good to know

Adults reach about 16 cm and wear a tall, five-pointed coronet on the head. Pairs stay together through the spring to autumn breeding season, and the male broods 100 to 250 eggs in his pouch for roughly three weeks before releasing fully formed young.

Did you know

White's seahorse is endangered in the wild, with New South Wales populations hit hard by seagrass and soft coral loss, so only captive-bred stock is traded. Australian conservation teams now anchor artificial seahorse hotels and release hatchery-raised young to rebuild wild numbers.