Sea horses & dragons

Prior to these recent intersex discoveries in male frogs , only a few other male animal species demonstrated pregnancy. Probably most famous among these species is the male seahorse, which takes on a reproductive role that is opposite to what is most commonly seen in nature. Male seahorses compete with each other not to impregnate female seahorses but to be impregnated. During sea horse mating the female deposits unfertilized eggs into the male’s brood pouch. The male seahorse then fertilizes the eggs with his own sperm, thus initiating a three-week pregnancy that is marked by an inability to move around and search for food. After 3 days of labor, the male seahorse will give birth to 200 baby sea horses.

A member of the same Syngnathidae family as seahorses, male pipe fish also carry eggs in a protective pouch before giving birth. A few years back, researchers discovered a specific gene that supports the protective pouches and allows male pipefish pregnancies to occur. Called patristacin, this gene sustains male pipe fish pouches, which help regulate the amount of saline in the womb. Interesting but not surprising, the patristacin gene is also found in seahorses and even in the kidneys and livers of other bony fish.

There is more to the eye when it comes to the leafy sea dragon another relative to the seahorse. Not only looking like a piece of floating seaweed, the male leafy sea dragon cares for roughly 250 bright pink eggs that are attached to its tail via a long tube stemming from the female leafy sea dragon partner. After attaching to the male’s brood pouch, the eggs take nine weeks to hatch, changing in color to either purple or orange during this time period. When ready to give birth, the male leafy sea dragon shoots the baby sea dragons out of its tail during a 24-48 hour period. Only 5% of the leafy sea dragons survive, and those that do are pretty much independent from birth.

Beautiful Leafy Sea Dragon

Fascinating isnt it????