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The endangered White's seahorse Hippocampus whitei chooses artificial over natural habitats
Michael Simpson1, Rebecca L Morris2, David Harasti3
1Coastal and Marine Ecosystems, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Abstract:
To explore whether the endangered White's seahorse Hippocampus whitei would choose to inhabit artificial over natural habitats, 10 adult H. whitei individuals were put through a series of binary choice trials in aquaria, during which they were offered different paired combinations of natural (different types of macroalga and seagrass) and artificial habitat (panels of swimming-net material). It was found that H. whitei displayed a significant choice for swimming-net material over all other available natural habitats and chose habitats according to the following rankings: (a) Net; (b) Sargassum sp.; (c) Posidonia australis; (d) Zostera muelleri. Hippocampus whitei's choice of swimming net material over natural habitat suggests that these artificial structures could be a useful conservation measure for seahorses in areas where natural habitat is becoming less favourable due to declines in abundance or quality.
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