Pete Giwojna
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Re:A renegade? or gas bubble? - 2008/05/11 23:57
Dear Estefano:
It sounds like you did a fine job of acclimating your new arrivals, sir!
I don't think there's anything to be concerned about regarding your female Mustang as long as she can swim normally and descend to the bottom of the tank when she so desires. Female seahorses are quite resistant to gas bubble syndrome (males are predisposed to problems with GBS because of their physiologically dynamic brood pouch, with its placenta-like, heavily vascularized tissue), so I'm confident we can rule out GBS.
If your female 'stang has any sort of a problem, it would be a slightly over inflated gas bladder, which is a problem that normally corrects itself over a period of a few days. There is a special oval-shaped area on the surface of the swimbladder that is heavily vascularized and reabsorbs excess gas, but this is a relatively slow process that takes a while to accomplish.
As in many other bony fishes, the seahorse's gas bladder functions as a swim bladder, providing the lift needed to give them neutral buoyancy. In essence, the swim bladder is a gas-filled bag used to regulate buoyancy. Because the seahorse's armor-plated body is quite heavy, this organ is large in Hippocampus and extends well down into the body cavity along the dorsal boundary
When the swimbladder is inflated with just the right amount of gas, the buoyancy provided by this gasbag exactly cancels out the pull of gravity, and the seahorse will neither tend to to float nor tend to sink. This condition is known as neutral buoyancy, and it makes it very easy for the seahorse to swim and maneuver almost effortlessly. But when the swimbladder is over inflated with gas, the seahorse will have positive buoyancy and must exert a lot of energy when swimming in order to counteract the tendency to float. The heavily vascularized oval of the gas bladder will gradually reabsorb excess gas to restore neutral buoyancy. And if the swimbladder is underinflated, the seahorse has negative buoyancy and must swim hard in order to avoid sinking. In that case, the gas gland will secrete additional gas in order to further inflate the swimbladder and restore neutral buoyancy again. But these processes take a little time to work.
In your case, it sounds like your female is already at neutral buoyancy, and has merely developed a fondness for perching high up on the water return. That may change as she becomes a little more accustomed to her new surroundings. Once the male Mustang settles on a favorite hitching posts and adopts a home base, his mate should remain nearby and the problem may resolve itself in this way.
Best of luck with your new seahorses, sir! All you need do for now is keep a close eye on your female to make sure that she is able to swim normally and descend to the bottom as she sees fit.
Happy Trails!
Pete Giwojna
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