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NATIONAL BREEDING PROGRAMME
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Task: To supply Seahorses to the network and other aquariums.
Purpose:
To minimise the number of Seahorses taken from the wild.
Aid sustainability of wild Seahorse stocks.
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REPRODUCTION
Surprisingly, male Seahorses care for the eggs prior to their hatchings.
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PROCESS OF REPRODUCTION
The female produces eggs, and whilst they are wrapped around each other in courtship, the female deposits the eggs into the male´s breeding pouch. The eggs are then fertilised in the pouch by the male. The pair then perform a mating dance each morning for 6 - 10 weeks, until the male gives birth. At birth, the babies measure between 6 - 12mm some Seahorses produce up to 1500 babies.
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SURVIVAL RATES OF BABY SEAHORSES
In the natural environment less than 5% survive to adulthood. In SEA LIFE breeding programmes survival is more than 80%.
After the young are born, they can live on their own from day one. They feed on small aquatic insects such as artemia and plankton.
Seahorse couples pair for life.
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