MARINE experts at Blackpool Sea Life Centre are warning home aquarists about the pitfalls of keeping exotic fish as pets after two sick seahorses were seized in the town.

The practical advice comes amid celebrations for the recent birth of more than 40 baby Big-bellied seahorses at the centre -- which serves as a stark reminder of the complexities involved in keeping any type of fish.

The Kuda seahorses were taken into custody after being delivered by the RSPCA, who had rescued them from a Blackpool woman's house. She had been sold the pair by a Blackburn pet shop despite being a novice fish keeper.

Just ten days later the seahorses had stopped eating and were becoming lethargic, spending most of their day motionless on the tank bottom.

Mike Baker, the centre's displays supervisor explained: "It was extremely irresponsible of the pet shop concerned to sell them to her.

"Seahorses are very sensitive fish and difficult to look after, even for experienced aquarists, and they are just about the last species that should ever be sold to a beginner."

The seahorses are now recovering in the centre's quarantine area and the shop is being investigated by the RSPCA to check if it holds the relevant licence and paperwork to legally stock them.

On a brighter note, a Big-bellied male seahorse at Blackpool Sea Life Centre has lived up to his name and shocked staff by giving birth to dozens of baby seahorses.

The babies popped out of the aptly-named male of the species as Mike Baker was conducting his early morning displays inspection. Mike said everyone at the centre was delighted as he explained: "For them to have bred so soon after arriving means they must feel very much at home in their new surroundings.

"In the seahorse world it is the male who carries the eggs and gives birth so there's no doubt about who the dad is, but the mum could be one of a dozen females."

At present the baby seahorses are in a makeshift nursery tank in the centre's quarantine unit and measure just two centimetres tall.