Hippocampus kuda is one of the world's most common Seahorses. They have proven fairly easy to breed in captivity and as a result, nearly all the specimens you see in your local fish store have been aquacultured. One of the results of this commonality, is that they have been “discovered” and classified (or reclassified) at least a dozen times over the years, giving way to a myriad of scientific names that are no longer valid. This has also given rise to a huge number of common names. Here at Quality Marine, we call them “Kuda” or “Colored Kuda” but you'll also see them called Colored, Spotted, Speckled, Common, Ocean, Oceanic, and pretty commonly just Yellow Seahorses. The “Hippocampus” part of their name comes from Greek and roughly translates as “curved horse.”
Occasionally, they also get called Estuary or Estuarine Seahorses, and they can be found in estuaries, as well as pretty much all other shallow water habitats that offer them the correct temperature, sedate flow, food, shelter and places to hang on. They're usually found in water that is less than 30 feet deep with a natural range that spans all of the tropical Indian Ocean out to the central Pacific. They are absent from the American Pacific coastline and the Atlantic Ocean. They've even been found in Sargassum floating along miles from shore. All Seahorses are members of the Sygnathidae family, which most of you will know better as Pipefishes and Seahorses.
As you've probably gathered, the primary difficulty in keeping most Seahorses is feeding them. As aquacultured specimens, these Kudas will be much easier to feed than their wild counterparts. In house we feed them a mix of Gamma Rotifers, Copepods and Loaded Brine (like Brine Plus Omega, Brine Plus Spirulina etc.) when they're small. Once they get big enough to take larger meals, we'll still feed them these items, but you can also add things like Mysis and Krill Pacifica which is smaller than the Krill Superba. We also feed our Nutramar Live Adult Artemia. They should be fed a minimum of three times a day and more would be better. Target feed them by gently basting thawed foods into the vicinity of the Seahorse with the filters paused to make sure they have ample opportunity to get the food before it is whisked away on the current. Many aquarists will utilize a refugium with their Seahorse displays as a rearing ground for natural food that gets delivered to the main display slowly over time. Click here to learn more
Occasionally, they also get called Estuary or Estuarine Seahorses, and they can be found in estuaries, as well as pretty much all other shallow water habitats that offer them the correct temperature, sedate flow, food, shelter and places to hang on. They're usually found in water that is less than 30 feet deep with a natural range that spans all of the tropical Indian Ocean out to the central Pacific. They are absent from the American Pacific coastline and the Atlantic Ocean. They've even been found in Sargassum floating along miles from shore. All Seahorses are members of the Sygnathidae family, which most of you will know better as Pipefishes and Seahorses.
As you've probably gathered, the primary difficulty in keeping most Seahorses is feeding them. As aquacultured specimens, these Kudas will be much easier to feed than their wild counterparts. In house we feed them a mix of Gamma Rotifers, Copepods and Loaded Brine (like Brine Plus Omega, Brine Plus Spirulina etc.) when they're small. Once they get big enough to take larger meals, we'll still feed them these items, but you can also add things like Mysis and Krill Pacifica which is smaller than the Krill Superba. We also feed our Nutramar Live Adult Artemia. They should be fed a minimum of three times a day and more would be better. Target feed them by gently basting thawed foods into the vicinity of the Seahorse with the filters paused to make sure they have ample opportunity to get the food before it is whisked away on the current. Many aquarists will utilize a refugium with their Seahorse displays as a rearing ground for natural food that gets delivered to the main display slowly over time. Click here to learn more
