Clownfish and some dottybacks may get the most attention in discussions of captive bred marine fish, and especially domesticated of aquarium species. But seahorses are among some of the earliest species bred for ornamental aquariums and they have showed domesticated traits for decades.
We’ve seen ‘Pinto’ and ‘Mustang’ varieties of seahorses, mostly resulting from unfixed genetics and Aquamarines is recently showing off some of their own varieties of Hippocampus seahorses. The Golden Nugget, Yellow Dragon and Salt & Pepper Seahorses are color variations of their captive bred Hippocampus comes and H. reidi seahorses.
The Salt & Pepper seahorse has a pretty clear greyish body color with small black spots and is not a specific color morph that we’ve seen specifically promoted before. However, bright yellow and orange Reid’s seahorses are a staple of captive bred Hippocampus and some of the brightest strains of this highly regarded group of fishes.
The great thing about captive bred seahorses is how much easier they are to feed than their wild counterparts. If seahorse tanks ever exploded in popularity anywhere near what clownfish and dottybacks have become, there’s no telling what unique new strains captive breeders might come up with.
