Frozen-shrimp-eating seahorses

A small business in Hawaii brings in a healthy profit by breeding and shipping more than 5,000 of these creatures a year.

By Diana Rosenthal, FSB Contributor

(FSB Magazine) -- The owners of Ocean Rider call this variety of seahorse "Sunburst," but its proper name is hippocampus erectus - one of 20 species that Carol Cozzi-Schmarr, 45, and her husband, Craig Schmarr, 44, breed on their ranch in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

Ocean Rider (seahorse.com) ships more than 5,000 seahorses a year. Seven varieties are marketed as pets to discerning sea-life enthusiasts, who pay as much as $1,000 to place a colorful 12-inch seahorse in their saltwater tanks. The nine-inch Sunburst sells for $185.

Ocean Rider seahorses are bred to eat frozen shrimp, which makes them easier to keep than those taken wild from the ocean, which need fresh food.

To increase revenue, Ocean Rider has opened up to tourists, who are invited to take turns wrapping seahorses around their fingers. Top of page

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.