Erectus Seahorse - Hippocampus erectus - Erectus Colored Seahorse - Lined Seahorse Sea Horse

The Erectus Seahorse, like its fellow seahorses, is one of the most unusual in appearance of all fishes. Its upright position, horse-like head set at right angles to the body, and jointed armor make it resemble a knight in a chess set. The Erectus Seahorse has a prehensile tail, which it uses to hold onto seaweed and coral. The scales have been replaced by rings of about 50 rectangular bony plates, encasing the body in a semi-rigid skeleton. The eyes can swivel independently or converge to achieve binocular vision. The most distinguishing feature between the male and the female Erectus Seahorse is the kangaroo-like pouch that the male has on its ventral side, used for reproduction. The Erectus Seahorse is easily separated from other species of seahorse by a pattern of dark lines on a lighter background in its coloring.

The Erectus Seahorses reproduce sexually through internal fertilization and spawn during every season. The male cares for the young. Male seahorses have an incubation pocket, similar to the pouch of a marsupial mammal, on the lower side of the tail, with an opening that can be closed off. During courtship, female Erectus Seahorse spray between 250 and 650 eggs into the male brood pocket, depending on the size of the individual. Development in the brood pocket lasts between 20 and 21 days. They practice monogamy.

The Erectus Seahorse swims weakly, propelled largely by the rapid motion of its dorsal fin and pectoral fins. When moving from one perch to another, they move so slowly that it would take one about 5 minutes to cross a bathtub.

Maximum Size: The Erectus Seahorse is a large species of seahorse, growing up to 5 inches long.

General Size: These generally come in size of 3 inches.

Minimum Tank size: A 30 gallon or larger aquarium provides good environment for the Erectus Seahorse.

Tank Conditions: The Erectus Seahorse should ideally be kept in temperatures between 72 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit. A pH value of 8.1 or 8.4, and a specific gravity of 1.020 to 1.025 should be maintained. When kept with invertebrates, the specific gravity range should be 1.020 to 1.025, for the invertebrate species. In a fish only aquarium, the specific gravity should fall between 1.020 and 1.023.

Habitat: Hippocampus erectus is strictly marine in habitat, and is found in seaweed and on coral reefs at depths of .5 - 30 m. from Cape Cod (and rarely Nova Scotia), Canada to Argentina and into the Gulf of Mexico.

Diet and Feeding: The Erectus Seahorses require living food. They are unable to move rapidly enough to chase their prey. Instead, they uses its elongated snout to suck in small crustaceans. Young Hippocampus erectus may feed for as long as ten hours of each day and consume up to 3600 baby brine shrimp during that time.

• Orders not received on the first delivery attempt.
• Orders not held for pick up at the FEDEX/UPS facility when temperatures are greater than 90 degrees or lower than 40 degrees.
• Orders placed during extreme weather will not be cover under our alive arrive guarenteed.
• If the weather delay a flight, or closes an airport, you live stock will be delayed. Fedex has no control over the weather, nor does Freshmarine.com.
• If your Live Stock is delay, Damaged, or Never Delivered due to severe weather condition, Fedex will not honor GUARANTEES, and therefore neither can Freshmarine.com.