Table of Contents
How do male seahorses reproduce?
When seahorses mate, the female inserts her ovipositor into the male’s brood pouch (an external structure that grows on the body of the male) and deposits her unfertilized eggs into the pouch. The male then releases sperm into the pouch to fertilize the eggs.
Do female seahorses get pregnant?
But in seahorses, the sperm-producers are also the ones that get pregnant. The female transfers her eggs to the male’s abdominal pouch, made of modified skin. The male releases sperm to fertilise the eggs as they enter, before incubating them for 24 days until they are born.
What really happens when male seahorses are pregnant?
As his pregnancy progresses, a male seahorse turns on genes that help him remodel his brood pouch to make it roomier as the embryos develop. He also turns on genes that make proteins responsible for moving nutrients, carbon dioxide, and urine across those tissues.
Do male seahorses eat their babies?
Contrary to popular belief, seahorses do not eat their babies! Young seahorses eat even smaller food such as copepods babies, but adult seahorses do not eat their young. So, do not worry if the male gives birth to his offspring because he will not eat his babies.
How do male seahorses have babies?
The male seahorse has a pouch on its stomach in which to carry babies—as many as 2,000 at a time. A pregnancy lasts from 10 to 25 days, depending on the species. The reproductive process begins when a male and a female seahorse do daily pre-dawn dances, intertwining their tails and swimming together.
Do male seahorses have an uterus?
While male seahorses don’t have a uterus, their pouches act in a manner similar to how a uterus does. The pouch contains the same genes that are present in a female uterus, called homologues. Thus, the egg develops in the same was as it would in a female body. Some other ways in which the pouch resembles a working uterus are: