Why does the male seahorse give birth?

Question

I'm doing a school project and I'm studying seahorses. I have to set in-depth questions, like why does the male seahorse give birth, and I've searched everywhere, but I can't find the answer.

Answer 1

The male seahorse gives birth. The male has the incubation pouch. The female delivers the eggs to that area, then the male fertlizes them. A short time later, the male enters labor and squirts the little seahorses out of the pouch.

Now in the seahorse world, things are a little different…..well so we thought. Since it is the male that becomes pregnant and gives birth to the live baby seahorses, it would seem logical that the female seahorses compete amongst themselves for male partners to care for their eggs. Well, that is what we thought. However, research has shown that it is STILL the males that compete for females. When male seahorses want to impress a female, they have tail pulling competitions, dragging each other around on the bottom of the seabed. They also snap at each other with their snouts and wrestle with each other using their long curved necks. They also display their pouches to the prospective female by opening and closing them, filling their pouches with water and expelling it with force, to show the fitness of the pouch for the birth process.

So, in a nutshell. Male seahorses compete with each other to become pregnant for three weeks (during which time they cannot move around to search for the best food), go through 72 hours of labour and exhausting final contractions to release up to 200 baby seahorses. During this process the natural colour of the male seahorse drains from his body and he becomes white and pasty looking. The experience (yes, we have it on film) looks painful and I cannot imagine that he would want to experience a baby seahorse birth again. But, after a very short time, sometimes only hours, the male starts showing off his pouch, begging to be pregnant again.

Not quite Ripliey's but something to think about.

Seahorses are thought to have evolved at least 40 million years ago and have survived from ancient times with only very small changes in body structure or organ function. They are unusual fish that have captured the imagination of artists, writers and poets, being found in the mythology, legends, folklore and superstitions of almost every country in the world. In fact some people still believe that these endearing creatures exist only in fables and children's stories. The fact is however, that these creatures are just as real as the threats that they face in our world today.

Seahorses are unique in appearance, resembling an amalgamation of body parts taken from numerous animals: a horse-like head, a monkey-like prehensile tail, chameleon-like eyes and insect-like body armour, but they are, however a peculiar species of fish equipped with a backbone, (unusual grape-like) gills, swim bladder and fins. The scales of the seahorse have over time fused to form the locust-like exoskeleton.The seahorses mate monogamously for the entire breeding season. Every day the pair will come together in a ritualistic flirtatious dance to reinforce their connection. While the male is pregnant he will move very little, which for a seahorse means not more than a few centimetres.

The male will eat food that happens to be in the area while the female will roam about in search of food. Regardless of this separation however, the female will always come back to the male to perform their daily ritual of entwining their tails and spiralling to the surface in a dance of celebration.
This ritual helps keep the pair synchronized reproductively. If a mate is removed or dies, it will take weeks to find a new mate, that is, if it is able to at all!

This is because seahorses live in isolated groups and move very little. It is thus extremely difficult to find another seahorse in the same part of the reproductive cycle. Due to the fact that it is the male that becomes pregnant it was previously believed that it would be the females that competed for the male partners.

This however is simply not the case. Like in most species, it is the male that competes with other males to attract and defend his female seahorse. So, it would appear that the male actually wants to be pregnant. The seahorse male is sounding more and more like every woman's perfect mate!
I suppose at the end of the day, the seahorse is no different to our own behaviour in many ways, especially around the time of Valentine's day!!!


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For more information:

Jim Morel
Knysna Seahorse Project
Postnet suite 24
P/Bag X31
Knysna
6570
South Africa
Cell: [phone]
e-mail: [e-mail]

Answer 2

Seahorse Giving Birth

Answer 3

Male Seahorse

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Why does the male seahorse give birth?
I'm doing a school project and I'm studying seahorses. I have to set in-depth questions, like why does the male seahorse give birth, and I've searched everywhere, but I can't find the answer.

Answer 5

1

Answer 6

If you are wondering how to get pregnant fast, then you have come to the right place because this article will discuss 5 things you absolutely must know if your desire is to conceive that dream child.

1. It is very important that both you and your partner get a medical check up to be certain that you are able to have children. This will be very reassuring for you and believe me, you will need this, especially if things don't happen as quick as you expect it to.

2. Make love as often as possible, especially right after your menstrual cycle and for the next 20 days after. (Even better still, make love every single day until your next period) You may be wondering why 20days? This is because that time frame would include the "fertile window" for most women.

The general thinking is that most women ovulate (release an egg) on day 14 but I can assure you that this is certainly not the case.

I recently got pregnant using the methods I am discussing with you here and it turns out when I went for my dating scan that I ovulated on the 8th day. Hard to believe isn't it? Well it is true. I have always had short menstrual cycles, lasting between 20 and 22 days.

So if want to know how to get pregnant fast and your menstrual cycles are shorter or longer than the so called average of 14 days, then you need to know precisely when you ovulate.

As a very general rule of the thumb just subtract 14 from the length of your menstrual cycle. So for example if your menstrual cycle is 24days in length then you are likely to ovulate on (24-14) day 10.

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b) It provides an alkaline medium, which protects the sperm from and otherwise acidic vagina.

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Answer 7

After breeding, the female deposits the eggs in a pouch that the male has in the abdomen. He takes care of them until they hatch.

Answer 8

Not sure why, but here's a link that might help. The female deposits the eggs into the male which is how he fertilizes the eggs is the best explanation I found.
Good luck.

Answer 9

Technically, the male seahorse doesn't give birth. The female lays many eggs in a "pouch" on the male seahorse. He fertilizes them, and a while later, when they hatch, they *pop* out of him, so it appears the male gives birth.

Answer 10

I'm not sure if you could ever explain the "why" of it. Maybe explaining that he possesses the ability to, might be the answer.