Cultural and socio-demographic drivers shape seahorse uses in Malaysia: implications for conservation REANA MAY YEN NG 1 ,AMY YEE-HUI THEN* 1 and ADAM CHEE OOI L IM 2 , 3
Abstract Seahorses Hippocampus spp. are commercially and culturally important to many communities. Although seahorses are widely used in traditional medicine, as curios and as aquarium fishes in Southeast Asia, documentation on the current nature and extent of culturally motivated sea- horse uses in Malaysia is lacking. To examine how ethnicity and other socio-demographic drivers shape traditional medicinal use and underlying cultural beliefs involving seahorses, we administered a questionnaire-based survey during March 2021–April 2022 to members of the general public and fishers in Malaysia. Approximately one-fifth (21.0%) of respondents reported consuming seahorses (34.4% of these used seahorses for medicinal purposes, 55.2% for other non-medicinal uses and 10.4% for both types). Consumers of seahorses were from all ethnic groups except for Indigenous groups. In the general public group, medicinal use was more common amongst the Chinese re- spondents, whereas in the fisher group, other uses were more common amongst the Malay respondents. Amongst the threats facing seahorses, which include overfishing, habitat destruction, bycatch and ocean plastic pollution, only bycatch was perceived as a major threat by most of the general public and fisher respondents. The relatively low prevalence of reported seahorse use amongst Malaysians is an encouraging finding from a conservation perspective. However, the high proportion of non-medici- nal uses indicates the need to focus on such other uses to ensure the sustainability of seahorse use in Malaysia.
Keywords Conservation, cultural values, Hippocampus spp., Malaysia, seahorses, sustainable use, traditional medicine
The supplementary material for this article is available at
doi.org/10.1017/S0030605324000425
Introduction T
he sustainable use of rapidly diminishing marine resources by consumers is a priority for species
*Corresponding author,
amy_then@um.edu.my 1Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia 2IUCN Species Survival Commission Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist
Group 3Save Our Seahorses (SOS) Malaysia, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Received 18 February 2023. Revision requested 13 June 2023. Accepted 4 March 2024. First published online 21 October 2024.
conservation.Marine resources have long been used formedi- cinal, experiential and sensory purposes by communities glo- bally, and there is increasing concern about overexploitation of these resources (Thomas-Walters et al., 2021). In Southeast Asia,most consumption of wildlife including marine resources is deeply rooted in the traditional beliefs and practices of local communities and is an integral part of their lives and liveli- hoods (Cheung et al., 2021; Thomas-Walters et al., 2021). However, these culturally driven practices are rarely integrated into species conservation measures and sustainable resource management (Cheung et al., 2021). Seahorses Hippocampus spp. are a marine resource of commercial and cultural importance. They are used in mul- tiple ways, which could make them more sought-after than other marine species. These bony fishes belong to the family Syngnathidae (Froese & Pauly, 2011) and live in tropical and temperate shallow waters in habitats such as seagrass mea- dows and coral reefs (Choo & Liew, 2003; Salin et al., 2005). Seahorses are closely associated with bottom habitats and considered key predators of bottom-dwelling organisms (Tipton & Bell, 1988; Foster & Vincent, 2004). They are slow swimmers and display traits of low fecundity, mate and site fidelity and obligate parental care (Vincent & Sadler, 1995; Foster&Vincent, 2004). These biological char- acteristics render them highly vulnerable to localized over- exploitation and depletion (Vincent, 1996; Otero-Ferrer et al., 2017). All known seahorse species are listed on Appendix II of
CITES, which regulates international trade (McPherson & Vincent, 2004). The global seahorse trade is driven by their perceived medicinal and cultural importance. For ex- ample, seahorses are valued as key ingredients in traditional medicine used to support the well-being of millions of peo- ple (WHO, 2002). Dried forms of seahorses are consumed in traditional Chinese medicine and other traditional and complementary medicinal practices, with an estimated over 20 million dried seahorses traded globally annually since the 1980s (Vincent, 1996; Foster & Vincent, 2005). Seahorses reportedly increase and balance energy flow and cure conditions such as impotence and infertility, high cholesterol, kidney disorders, goitres, asthma and skin con- ditions such as acne and allergies (Rosa et al., 2013). Consumers also believe that medicines derived from sea- horses act as a genital tonic and an aphrodisiac and that they facilitate parturition (Vincent, 1995, 1996). Besides con- suming dried seahorses for their medicinal value, coastal
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. Oryx, 2024, 58(6), 720–729 © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605324000425
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