How Many of each?
- Thread starter TikiDan
- Start date
You should read this: http://www.seahorse.com/FAMA_-_Fres...magazine/Horse_Forum_1999/Horse_Forum_-_1999/
Here's a quote from the article: "The normal social group of the seahorse is the mated pair. Nearly all species that have studied in the laboratory or the field haven proven to be monogamous. Once a pair bond is established, the male will adopt a small home base within his mate's much larger territory[2], seldom straying from that tiny section of seagrass thereafter. For instance, the male Hippocampus whitei operates from a home base of perhaps one square meter, while his mate's territory is often up to 100 square meters--one hundred times greater (Vincent and Sadler, 1995). Consequently, studies show that day after day, paired males can be found in the same spot on the vast grass flats. This arrangement allows the male and female to live together and have daily contact with each other without competing for food, but it also means that mated pairs seldom come in contact with other seahorses. Ordinarily, the only other seahorses they meet are widowed or otherwise unpaired males in search of an available female, and these roaming bachelors are universally ignored or rebuffed by established pairs (Vincent, 1990)."
So, in reality if we were to recreate a natural enviornment for seahorses, we would have one pair (1 male and 1 female) per square meter. However that's not to say you can not maintain more specimans in a smaller area, but I agree with David; equal number of males and females.
Sherry in WY
Here's a quote from the article: "The normal social group of the seahorse is the mated pair. Nearly all species that have studied in the laboratory or the field haven proven to be monogamous. Once a pair bond is established, the male will adopt a small home base within his mate's much larger territory[2], seldom straying from that tiny section of seagrass thereafter. For instance, the male Hippocampus whitei operates from a home base of perhaps one square meter, while his mate's territory is often up to 100 square meters--one hundred times greater (Vincent and Sadler, 1995). Consequently, studies show that day after day, paired males can be found in the same spot on the vast grass flats. This arrangement allows the male and female to live together and have daily contact with each other without competing for food, but it also means that mated pairs seldom come in contact with other seahorses. Ordinarily, the only other seahorses they meet are widowed or otherwise unpaired males in search of an available female, and these roaming bachelors are universally ignored or rebuffed by established pairs (Vincent, 1990)."
So, in reality if we were to recreate a natural enviornment for seahorses, we would have one pair (1 male and 1 female) per square meter. However that's not to say you can not maintain more specimans in a smaller area, but I agree with David; equal number of males and females.
Sherry in WY
