SYDNEY, June 22 (Xinhua) -- With the help of Australian scientists, some of the world's rarest seahorses are taking up residence in their own custom-built underwater "hotels" in the iconic Sydney Harbour as part of a conservation program.
Marine scientists and conservationists at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium and students at the University of Technology Sydney have so far placed 18 of the cage-like constructions, called hotels, around the harbour to shelter the endangered White's seahorses.
White's seahorses, which grow to a maximum of about 16 cm, change colour depending on mood and surroundings, and, like all seahorses, the males gestate the young (known as fries), brooding the eggs in their pouches before giving birth.
After a dramatic decline in numbers over the past decade due to pollution and changing water conditions and a reduction in seagrass, they are now the world's second-most endangered species of seahorse.
The cages, about the size of coffee tables, are made of galvanised steel, which over time will become encrusted with corals, sponges and algae, and supply the seahorses with a ready supply of food and protection from predators.
Aquarium curator Laura Simmons told Xinhua that the hotels were designed to slowly collapse under the weight of the marine growth, leaving a new natural habitat behind.
"Successful seahorse hotel deployment is critical as Posidonia seagrass and the cauliflower soft coral that seahorses call home are also endangered," Simmons said.
"The seahorse hotels provide the perfect haven for these seahorses and their native habitats to flourish."
The next major stage of the conservation program will involve the release from the aquarium of about 120 fries into the hotels in time for National Threatened Species Day on September 7. Enditem