Publications & Contributions

A comprehensive database of Project Seahorse outputs

17 Results for: Book chapter

Live food and non-food fisheries on coral reefs, and their potential for management.

Biology and exploitation of coral reef organisms remain very under-studied, particularly with respect to live food and non-food fisheries. Coral reefs are found in over 100 countries, supporting more than 4000 species of fish and 1000 species of reef-building corals (Paulay, 1997). The resources in these ecosystems are exploited by tens of millions of fishers …

Ecological Issues and the Trades in Live Reef Fishes

This chapter focuses on the various ecological issues that are related to the trade of live reef fishes. Well-managed live reef fish fisheries offer an excellent chance for high-value and relatively low-volume trades that could employ many fishers without damaging wild populations, with the income providing strong local incentives to care for marine resources. Similarly, …

Marine species in traditional medicine

I was glad t o read Chuck Birkeland’s article on disposable income in Asia and its effects on coral reef resources (Reef Encounte r No. 22: 9-13). I would certainly agree that economic growth in China (and previously in Asia in general) is putting new pressures on marine resources, and thank him for raising the …

Update on seahorses

Despite Thierry Schmidt’s successes and his opinion that keeping seahorses presents no special difficulties, I am deluged by letters from home aquarists, public aquarists, and aquaculturists reporting the difficulties of seahorse keeping. It is irresponsible to encourage seahorse breeding without warning of the difficulties and the high rate of failure. An editorial note commented that …

Market for sea moths in medicinals

The five fish species in the family Pegasidae, known as sea moths or sea robins, are only found in the Indo-Pacific and are unfamiliar even to most fish biologists and fishers. These intriguing and attractive fish – which measure less than 18cm – swim with huge pectoral fins and use their rolled pelvic fins to …

Pregnant males & horses’ tales

Seahorses have long been held to have magical properties. In ancient Greece, fishermen who found seahorses washed ashore believed these were the young of the giant stallions that pulled Neptune’s chariots across the waves. The Roman natural historian Pliny stated that ashes of seahorse mixed with tallow and oil of marjoram, and applied to the …