Male Pregnancy in Seahorses

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Research Question

How does the brooding pouch impact male pregnancy in seahorses and the formation of new species?

Biological relevance of this question

To help comprehend the effect of the brooding pouch in male pregnancy in seahorses and evolutionary mechanisms answerable for variations in the structure of organisms over a given period

Literature Results

Studies show that male seahorses play an important role of carrying the pregnancy and giving birth to young ones (Sommer, Whittington & Wilson, 2012). This character is distinct and fascinating for these types of fish that inhabit temperate coastal and tropical waters globally.

However, while male seahorses give birth, breeding can get difficult since the young are tiny to ensure their survival. Regardless, a male seahorse has a pouch on the stomach that carries about 2,000 babies (Novelli et al., 2018). The pregnancy lasts for ten to twenty-five days. The reproduction starts when a female and male seahorse engages in routine pre-dance, intertwine their tails and swim. Ultimately, they do a courtship lasting for 8 hours. Eventually, the female seahorse deposits eggs in the male’s pouch.

 Male Pregnancy in Seahorses

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References

Braga Goncalves, I., Ahnesjö, I., & Kvarnemo, C. (2011). The relationship between female body size and egg size in pipefishes. Journal of Fish Biology, 78(6), 1847-1854.          https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2011.02984.x

Flanagan, S. P., Rosenqvist, G., & Jones, A. G. (2017). Mate quality and the temporal dynamics   of breeding in a sex-role-reversed pipefish, S. typhle. Behavioral Ecology and          Sociobiology, 71(1), 28. DOI: 10.1007/s00265-016-2255-3

Goncalves, I. B., Ahnesjö, I., & Kvarnemo, C. (2015). Embryo oxygenation in pipefish brood       pouches: novel insights. Journal of Experimental Biology, 218(11), 1639-1646.       doi: 10.1242/jeb.120907

Jones, A. G., Moore, G. I., Kvarnemo, C., Walker, D., & Avise, J. C. (2003). Sympatric                speciation as a consequence of male pregnancy in seahorses. Proceedings of the National   Academy of Sciences, 100(11), 6598-6603. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1131969100

Novelli, B., Otero Ferrer, F., Socorro, J. A., & Molina Domínguez, L. (2018). Early development of the longsnout seahorse Hippocampus reidi (Syngnathidae) within the male brood pouch. Journal of fish biology, 92(6), 1975-1984. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13631

Ripley, J. L., & Foran, C. M. (2009). Direct evidence for embryonic uptake of paternally-derived             nutrients in two pipefishes (Syngnathidae: Syngnathus spp.). Journal of Comparative   Physiology B, 179(3), 325-333. doi: 10.1007/s00360-008-0316-2

Sagebakken, G., Ahnesjö, I., & Kvarnemo, C. (2016). Costs and benefits to pregnant male            pipefish caring for broods of different sizes. PloS one, 11(5), e0156484.           doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156484

Sommer, S., Whittington, C. M., & Wilson, A. B. (2012). Standardised classification of pre          release development in male-brooding pipefish, seahorses, and seadragons (Family            Syngnathidae). BMC developmental biology, 12(1), 39. doi:10.1186/1471-213X-12-39

Wilson, A. B., Vincent, A., Ahnesjö, I., & Meyer, A. (2001). Male pregnancy in seahorses and     pipefishes (family Syngnathidae): rapid diversification of paternal brood pouch           morphology inferred from a molecular phylogeny. Journal of Heredity, 92(2), 159-166.        https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/92.2.159

By admin in Blog on September 26, 2022