The Brazilian Longnose Seahorse (Hippocampus reidi) is a member of the family Syngnathidae, better known as the pipefishes and seahorses! Born at less than a centimeter, the fish will eventually reach a length of about 7 inches. (Total length in seahorses is measured from tip of tail to the top of the head.) Hippocampus is a common seahorse genus and is of Greek origin, meaning “curved horse”. The species name, reidi is in honor of Earl Reid of the Smithsonian Institute. These are beautifully colored with males being a richer orange color generally and females being a lighter yellow. They are also known to have some splotches of color such as brown or white on their body that can change with stress or during spawning. In the wild, Brazilian Longnose Seahorses hang onto algae or coral in high flow areas that will push a lot of current, and therefore food past them within easy reach. The only way to replicate this in the home aquarium is to target feed them with live foods like Nutramar Live Artemia Nauplii. Many captive raised seahorses are accustomed to eating frozen foods such as Gamma mysis or enriched brine shrimp, and if they are not, you can feed a mixture of the live and frozen to encourage them to eat the frozen food. To learn more click here
