Reef nutrition

Clown and neon gobies

I don't think any seahorses are native to Hawaii. The ones the LFS's get were probably once peoples pets or what not released into the wild. I do know my father saw someone catching them in the Alawai canal. hahaha. They guy catching them at first didn't want to say what they were, when he finally did he told my father, he said he sold them to the LFS's. [quote/]


Hi Ian,

I was told by some people who paddled in the Ala Wai that they see seahorses in there too. I know OR can't sell them locally, so where are they coming from? Hawaii won't let seahorses come in if it is not native. Do you think people released seahorses long ago (I used to see imported ones in pet shops in the 70s before they made the laws tight) and they multiplied? It is weird that they are in the Ala Wai considering how its known for its less than pristine conditions, and the water is brackish. :-

There are at least 3 different seahorse in HI with at least two I know about being native, Hippocampus fisheri and H. kudo. I can't recall the last one, maybe H. hystrix?

Your father saw him catching h. kudos most likely as h. fisheri is pelagic. It's one of many food sources for mahi mahi

EDIT: (googled) OK so 1 specimen of H. hystrix found in HI exists but no one has seen another and the one sample is badly degraded.[quote/]


Ah, thanks for clearing that up Gresham. Saves me the trouble of looking that info up, which I was just about to do. :D

Hmm...don't know how all of this got quoted
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Click to expand...
 
I suspect OR doesn't sell locally as that would mean they'd have to have two separate facilities, two water sources, etc, for bio-security. HI is super strict on bio-security and such.
 
[quote author=GreshamH link=topic=6224.msg79117#msg79117 date=1233979699]
I suspect OR doesn't sell locally as that would mean they'd have to have two separate facilities, two water sources, etc, for bio-security. HI is super strict on bio-security and such.
[/quote]

Yeah, it is good for the islands (although there are a ton of non-native species considering all the bilge water tankers bring in), but sad for the saltwater aquarists in the islands. The overall environment is definitely more important, though I can't understand why they don't allow native corals and such to be propagated and sold within the islands.
 
I think they go a bit over board and I would love to say more but with my job and all I really shouldn't :)
 
[quote author=GreshamH link=topic=6224.msg79119#msg79119 date=1233980735]
I think they go a bit over board and I would love to say more but with my job and all I really shouldn't :)
[/quote]

Understandable. :D

It was one of my frustrations as a SW keeper in the islands. :) But now I'm here. :D
 
Thanks for the correction Gresham. The funny thing about the Ala Wai is that it is well known as a very very polluted canal that is brackish water.
 
It also known to house H. kudos from my reading last night :)
 
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