πΎAnimals
Male Seahorses Get Pregnant and Give Birth
In seahorses, it's the male that carries the eggs in a brood pouch and gives birth to live young, a unique role in the animal kingdom.
About this fact
Seahorses exhibit one of the most unusual reproductive strategies in the animal kingdom. The female seahorse transfers her eggs to a specialized brood pouch on the male's abdomen. The male then fertilizes the eggs internally and carries them for a gestation period of about 2-4 weeks. He provides nutrients and oxygen to the developing embryos. When the time comes, the male undergoes muscular contractions to expel the fully formed baby seahorses, sometimes hundreds of them, into the water.