Abstract

REYES-BUSTAMANTE, H  and  ORTEGA-SALAS, A.A. Cultivo del caballito de mar, Hippocampus ingens (Pisces: Syngnathidae) en condiciones artificiales. Rev. biol. trop [online]. 1999, vol.47, n.4, pp.1045-1049. ISSN 0034-7744.

Hippocampus ingens was cultured under controlled laboratory conditions (aquarium and in a seawater pond) for nine weeks using rotifers as food. Daylight seawater temperature was 23.3 -29.0 °C, oxygen 3.6-8.7 mg/l, pH 8.5- 9.1, salinity 36-38 o/oo, and turbidity 35-50 cm. In aquarium mean length of hatched larvae was 0.69 cm (increased to 1.4 cm at the end of the first week).The length-weight relationship was W = 0.0025 L ^2.9842 n = 112 r = 0.98, where W: weight (g) and L: length (cm). Total growth estimated through nine weeks was L = 0.7804 (T) - 0.2732 n = 7 r = 0.99, where L: length (cm) and T: time in weeks. The growth rate was 0.7804 cm per week. The survival rate was 84% with a crop of 3 332 juveniles.

Keywords : Hippocampus ingens; experimental culture; Mexican Pacific Ocean.