Sea
Horses
are Unusual Parents
Bring
Dad to the Aquarium! Did you know that sea horse dads carry the babies until
they are born? Make a sea horse craft as a present for your dad and participate
in many other fun activities.
Sea
horses are a strange-looking kind of fish. They have a horse-shaped head and
a curled tail that can grip and hold things. Instead of scales, sea horses are
covered by a layer of tough bony plates which act like a suit of armor, protecting
them from their enemies.
Sea
horses are unusual in another way. The female sea horses lay the eggs, but unlike
other creatures, it‘s the males that give birth to the young.
Male
sea horses have a fold of skin on their bellies that forms a pocket, much like
a kangaroo‘s pouch, called a brood pouch. During breeding season, the sea horse‘s
pouch swells to receive eggs. A female sea horse lays up to 200 eggs at
a time in the pouch. Then she swims off, leaving her male partner to care for
the developing eggs and give birth to the young sea horses. The female will
return every day to check on her mate and the eggs, but she doesn‘t stay long
nor does she take part in the birth.
It
takes from two to six weeks for the eggs in the male‘s pouch to develop. During
this time the male avoids open water and hides in sea grass. His bulging pouch
makes it difficult for him to swim, so the male often uses his tail to grasp
a piece of sea grass. Firmly gripping the grass, he will stay perfectly still
for hours or even days. The male sea horse will change his color to blend with
his surroundings and avoid being seen by predators who will try to eat him or
poke holes in his pouch to get the eggs. Sea horses can change from black to
purple, to bright yellow, and even to neon orange if necessary.
The
eggs hatch inside the male‘s pouch. When the babies begin moving around, the
male sea horse knows it‘s time for them to be born. He grabs a sea grass stem
with his tail and begins rocking, bending his body back and forth. This causes
the opening to enlarge until it is wide enough for the first baby sea horse
to shoot out. The father sea horse continues rocking, bending, and stretching
his body so that the rest of the babies can be born. Sometimes he has to press
his pouch against a rock or some stiff seaweed to force the young out.
Sea
horse babies are born in batches of five or more. Depending on the species,
baby sea horses can be a quarter-inch to a half-inch long at birth. Sometimes
it takes two days for the father sea horse to give birth to all his young. He
is very tired when it‘s over.
Soon
after giving birth to one brood, the male will approach his mate and show her
his empty pouch. This tells her he is ready to receive eggs again. Sea horses
like being fathers so much that they will have from 4 to 12 broods of babies
during breeding season which lasts at least six months.
