H. Whitei

Dear Amanda:

The Hippocampus whitei are not being raised in commercial numbers for hobbyists right now, Amanda, and I think that will be the case for the foreseeable future. Ocean Rider is still producing plenty of their bread-and butter Mustangs and Sunbursts (Hippocampus erectus) for the aquarium market/pet trade, of course, as well as the Brumbries or potbellied seahorses (H. abdominalis) for hobbyists with temperate tanks, and they are also offering some of their very exotic but very expensive types to hobbyists, such as Pintos and Fire Reds, but they are merely maintaining the rest of their lines at this time. They are still breeding and raising all of their other lines of seahorses, just not in commercial numbers. Rather, they are raising enough of the other species to maintain their broodstock and to eliminate any concerns about inbreeding, and to provide sufficient display specimens for the Visitor’s Center at the seahorse farm, but not enough to provide them for the general public for now. They are maintaining H. whitei and very many other species as a "living gene bank" for Hippocampus, part of their conservation program and foundation for seahorses, but aren’t currently making them available to the public. That’s a conscious decision that they made in order to allow them to devote more time to other breeding projects at the aquaculture facility, such as working with seadragons and other species of marine tropicals (e.g., Pseudochromis, clownfish, and dwarf angels). I don’t expect that situation to change anytime in the near future, Amanda, but I will certainly keep you guys informed when more of the other seahorses do become available for hobbyists again.

Best wishes with all your fishes, Amanda!

Respectfully,
Pete Giwojna