Conservation mariculture - breeding of seahorses and sacred chanks- Winter School on Recent Advances in Breeding and Larviculture of Marine Finfish and Shellfish

摘要

Seahorses are fascinating fin fishes in the marine environment. Seahorses have been used in Traditional ChineseudMedicine (TCM) for more than 600 years (Vincent, 1995). They are reported in TCM to play a role in increasing andudbalancing vital energy flows within the body, and as a curative for ailments like asthma, impotency, high cholesterol,udgoiter, kidney disorders and skin diseases such as severe acne. Although seahorses are considered to be difficult-tokeepudfishes in the aquarium, they are among the most popular. The captive aquarium seahorses are wild caught,udcoming from Indonesia, Philippines and being exported to North America, Europe and Japan (Vincent, 1996). Theseudfishes are also used as curios like jewels, paper weight, key chains and other items owing to their extraordinary shape,udthe ease with which they dry and their series of external body plates that enable them to retain shape even after death.