Seahorses (Genus Hippocampus; Family Syngnathidae) are iconic fish characterised by tails with prehensile capabilities, which develop after the transition from planktonic to benthonic lifestyle. As a result, seahorses remain attached vegetal structures or other elements most of time, both in wild and under rearing conditions. In present simulation study, we assessed effect artificial holdfast o...

Due to the phenomenon of male pregnancy, the fish family Syngnathidae (seahorses and pipefishes) has historically been considered an archetypal example of a group in which sexual selection should act more strongly on females than on males. However, more recent work has called into question the idea that all species with male pregnancy are sex-role reversed with respect to the intensity of sexua...

The phenomenon of male pregnancy in the family Syngnathidae (seahorses, pipefishes, and sea dragons) undeniably has sculpted the course of behavioral evolution in these fishes. Here we explore another potentially important but previously unrecognized consequence of male pregnancy: a predisposition for sympatric speciation. We present microsatellite data on genetic parentage that show that seaho...

Seahorses have long been part of the pantheon of imagination-inspiring creatures. The external appearance of this strange fish probably accounts for the widespread appeal of the seahorse. Reproduction in seahorses is even more unusual, as the male rather than the female, becomes pregnant. Recent research on seahorse mating behaviour reveals that male pregnancy in seahorses and their relatives h...

Syngnathid fish (pipefish and seahorses) are unique among teleost fish in that their ovary consists of a rolled sheet with germinal ridge(s) on the dorsal side running along the entire length of the sheet. A distinct difference is seen in the ovarian structure between polygamous Syngnathus pipefish and monogamous seahorses (Hippocampus spp.), the former having one germinal ridge and the latter ...

Syngnathid fishes (pipefishes, seahorses, and seadragons) exhibit a wide array of mating systems ranging from monogamy with long-term pair bonds to more promiscuous mating systems, such as polyandry and polygynandry. Some seahorses, including the dwarf seahorse Hippocampus zosterae, have been found to be socially monogamous. Although several seahorse species have also been shown to be genetical...

Don’t try this at home! Male pregnancy is an alien concept to us mammals. Yet this phenomenon is the universal reproductive mode of pipefishes, seahorses and sea dragons (family Syngnathidae, with more than 200 species). During mating, a female uses an ovipositor to transfer dozens or hundreds of her unfertilized eggs to the underside of a male, where he fertilizes them. Dad then carries his de...