Extr-e Extr-e!! Read all about it! Spotted: Seahorse Mating Dance!
Yesterday, for the first time, I got to see some live action seahorse mating! Honestly, it was so cool to see. It's one of those things that I knew about but seeing it all in action is just... so different.
For those of you that don't know the process of seahorse mating, let me explain!
The process for seahorse mating is truly a beautiful thing. The male and female with join in a kind of dance to "woo" each other, entwining their tails together and drifting up and down in the water column. Once the female has decided upon who will be the father, the male fertilizes her eggs internally. Sexy sexy time! At this point, this start to change up a bit. Instead of the female carrying the eggs during gestation, the male will carry them. Male seahorses have a specialized sack below their stomachs that allows them the ability to carry the eggs for the female. You can see the sack in larger seahorses, smaller individuals are more difficult to see. the sack tools like an extra bulge below the stomach that is sometimes a lighter color than the rest of the body. When the eggs have been fertilized, the male will begin to dance with the female again, opening and closing it's sack to take the eggs from her. He will then hold onto the eggs until they are ready for live birth. This can take anywhere between 14 days to 4 weeks, depending upon the species of seahorse.
When the eggs are through their gestation period, the male will squirt them out like a water gun. The babies will be fully recognizable as seahorses only very small. Once born, the babies will have to swim to the waters surface in order to take a tiny gulp of air to fill their gas bladder. Many aquatic animals are born with already filled gas bladders, but seahorses need to fill theirs with air upon birth. This action creates some challenges for seahorses in captivity because, often enough, the babies will sometimes get caught at the surface and die due to the inability to sink easily from the stagnant water of tanks. To remedy this, many aquariums, including the one that I volunteer at, Biomes in North Kingston, RI, have specialized tanks that create a circular current throughout the tank. These tanks are usually circular in shape and are specially made for creatures that need a constant current, like seahorses and jellyfish. This circular current prevents the seahorses from being caught at the surface once their gas bladder has been filled, prolonging their life in that instance.
Below is a video I recorded of the males seahorses dancing with a female opening and closing their egg sacks. I can't stress enough how in aw I was to actually see this in action. And to top it off, there was a little girl there who knew EXACTLY what was happening between them. She's a regular at the a aquarium and she wants to become a marine biologist when she grows up and it just makes me feel so good when I see her because she has such a passion and love for the ocean and the animals within it. I Love seeing that!
Photos taken at Biomes Marine Biology Center
North Kingston, Rhode Island
www.biomescenter.com
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