A world-first experiment to assess whether captive-bred seahorses can survive in the wild is under way in Australia.
Seahorses are under threat globally, particularly in Asia where they are prized as a traditional Chinese medicine. At least 25 million seahorses are sold each year, many caught as 'by-catch' by fishing fleets.
White's seahorse, or Hippocampus whitei, is found only along the coast of New South Wales but is locally abundant and not considered endangered.
Thirty juveniles, aged six months and barely 3cms long, were released into the water at Manly Cove in Sydney Harbour by seahorse researcher David Harasti from the New South Wales department of primary industries, in conjunction with the conservation group Project Seahorse.
The 18 males and 12 females were transferred to the sea from their tank at Sydney Aquarium.
'It's a pilot study to see if captive-bred animals will survive in the wild,' said Mr Harasti. 'If we do see high survival rates, we may be able in the future to reintroduce other seahorse species in areas where they've disappeared.'
