Please help identify our Seahorse.

[nalley923]

Hello,

This is our beautiful girl named Suie.We bought her from a aquarium shop about 3 months ago for our seahorse only tank they did not know what kind of seahorse she was they just said Hippocampus.She was about 2 inches in size Very small in our 65 gallon tank! We set up her feeding tube (under gravel tube) and her shell as her bowl and after all that eating she is a healthy and happy 5 to 6 inches! I wanted to get her a mate but so far the store we bought her from they have only had 1 felmale in!To me she looks like a Hippocampus Come,but I would like some other opinions.Your help would be very much apreciated and welcomed.I will post more pic's as soon as I can.

Ann

PS I have her photos in my albulm that is public.

 

[ReefNutPA]

H. comes.

 

[Peka]

Very pretty! Congrats.....

 

[rayjay]

Looks like a comes but in my experience, I've not seen a comes grow that fast, from 2" to 5" in 3 months.
Mine never grew that much in eight months.
Same with a friend in Toronto that has them now for almost a year and they are not that large yet by far.

 

[April F]

She appears to be h. comes to me also.
May I ask why you are waiting to get a male?
The female comes that I used to have was very gregarious and personable. Getting her a female friend would give you that much more enjoyment from her.
H. comes are very, very hard to raise, so a male/female pair isn't that important. Two females will still dance and court, and then you don't have to mess with the babies. If, at some point, a male becomes available, you could still get him, and he will pair off with whichever female is the most suitable.
I have noticed, in my area, that there have been NO males offered, of any species, for quite some time.
She is a beautiful fish!

 

[nalley923]

To answer April"s question,we would like a male for Suie so they could breed we do want babies.We have the time and will power to take this on full time.Thanks to all helping identify our seahorse.

Ann

 

[barbianj]

Trying to learn, how can you tell that this seahorse is a Comes? What features give it away?

 

[rayjay]

The horizontal bands can give some indication.
However, to be absolutely certain, one needs to check some other physical aspects like cheek spines, tail rings, pectoral and dorsal fin rays, and coronet configuration.
The picture is insufficient to determine those things so based on the odds, comes is the most likely to have that coloration.

SEAHORSE ID GUIDE

 

[edandsandy]

rayjay,
What a wonderful site!
Thanks!

 

[barbianj]

The horizontal bands can give some indication.
However, to be absolutely certain, one needs to check some other physical aspects like cheek spines, tail rings, pectoral and dorsal fin rays, and coronet configuration.
The picture is insufficient to determine those things so based on the odds, comes is the most likely to have that coloration.

SEAHORSE ID GUIDE

Thanks, that's a great link. I didn't think the picture gave enough detail, just wondering what the general reasoning was. Thanks again.

 

[JulieAnnx33]

This looks just like my 2 juvenile seahorses. I was told that mine are Kudas.

 

[rayjay]

Well I have seen at least four species of seahorse that were being sold as kuda, including even comes believe it or not.
I think labeling the seahorses as kuda which is maybe the most common name recognized by non keepers, it gets them through customs easier from overseas, and even most importers don't know what they are selling.

 

[timinnl]

Well I have seen at least four species of seahorse that were being sold as kuda, including even comes believe it or not.
I think labeling the seahorses as kuda which is maybe the most common name recognized by non keepers, it gets them through customs easier from overseas, and even most importers don't know what they are selling.

Before I knew any better, I wanted to import H. kuda/H. comes into The Netherlands. When I asked for references from the exporter, he sent me three export permits listing to companies he sold too within the EU. All listed H. kuda even though they ship H. comes with the order.

Tim

 

[TamiW]

Well congrats - it's a boy! http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/album.php?albumid=2901&pictureid=20512

As for species identifying features - H. comes has a very unique look that can usually be spotted a mile away even without doing the normal checks. But for verification, checking for a double cheek spine, prominent nose spine and small, low 5 spine coronet are usually good indicators, though, as suggested, checking all the features of a species if the only way to really be 90% positive (the other 10% requires knowing the collection place and even genetics).

Looks like a comes but in my experience, I've not seen a comes grow that fast, from 2" to 5" in 3 months.

If they eat well, and you feed the hell out of them, they do. Er, mine did. I was working to form a pair and praying that my tiny baby was a girl, so I fed well, really well including isolating in a breeder next for the first month to target feed, and then target feeding with a baster for the next months after; 3-4 months later I had a little girl producing eggs. But I was also offering live mysis along with frozen, enriched brine and "plankton" (small krill).

She appears to be h. comes to me also.

I have noticed, in my area, that there have been NO males offered, of any species, for quite some time.

Is it possible you're just seeing a lot of juveniles that aren't showing pouch development yet? That seems to be the case in the shops by me. ORA seahorses may be big enough to be sexed, but the "tank raised" ones that come in are usually too young.

Well I have seen at least four species of seahorse that were being sold as kuda, including even comes believe it or not.
I think labeling the seahorses as kuda which is maybe the most common name recognized by non keepers, it gets them through customs easier from overseas, and even most importers don't know what they are selling.

Or H. kelloggi. My H. comes pair were "Kelloggi" as was the H. trimaculatus I picked up in July.

 

[April F]

Tami - the fish being too young to sex could be correct. I would have bet a million dollars the fish in the first pic of this thread was female, but the pic you posted certainly looks like a young male now. It also appears it could possibly be h. erectus from that pic, tho I'm still leaning towards h. comes.