New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

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Natural diet of the seahorse Hippocampus abdominalis

Chris M. C. Woods

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric
Research Limited
P.O. Box 14 901, Kilbirnie
Wellington, New Zealand
email: c.woods@niwa.cri.nz

Abstract   This investigation examined the diet of adult wild seahorses, Hippocampus abdominalis Leeson 1827, from Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. Diet of seahorses (n = 59) collected from shallow subtidal macroalgal stands consisted largely of crustaceans, in particular amphipods (e.g., caprellid and ischyrocerid amphipods), caridean shrimp (i.e., Hippolyte bifidirostris), and peracarids (i.e., the mysid Tenagomysis similis). There were no differences in diet between male and female seahorses. Smaller seahorses consumed a greater amount of crustaceans than larger seahorses, as a result of the greater proportion of amphipods in their gut contents. There were some seasonal differences in diet, with amphipod consumption peaking in spring and summer, and decapod consumption lowest in autumn.

Keywords   syngnathid; diet; seahorse; crustacea; Hippocampus abdominalis

M02024 Received 5 April 2002; accepted 24 June 2002; published 17 September 2002
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2002, Vol. 36: 655-660
0028-8330/02/3603-0655 $7.00 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2002

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