Fidelidad al sitio y rango de hogar del caballito de mar narizón Hippocampus reidi (Teleostei: Syngnathidae) en la dársena de Varadero, noroeste de Cuba

Abstract

Fish populations of the Syngnathidae family, including the charismatic seahorse, have significantly declined worldwide during the last decades. Up to now, these populations have been poorly researched in their habitat in Cuba. The objective of this study was to determinate site fidelity and home range of the longsnout seahorse (Hippocampus reidi Ginsburg, 1933), which has been poorly studied and has been classified as a Data Deficient (DD) species by the IUCN. Sampling was conducted between April 2009 and August 2010 in two stations located at the dock of Varadero, an artificial channel located northwest of Cuba. Visual census were conducted on 17 transects (20 x 1 m) at each station, and a total of 68 seahorses were identified and tagged with fluorescent elastomers. H. reidi showed site fidelity, with 48.5% of the marked individuals being recaptured close to or on the same transect where they were located the first time. The home range was 70.6 ± 60.1 m (mean ± SD), and no significant differences were found in this variable between both stations or between males and females. These results increase our current knowledge on this seahorse species and show the vulnerability of these populations to potential damages of their restricted habitat.