Why Do Male Seahorses Get Pregnant?

Virgin Ray·Oct 26, 2016·8 votes·2,911 views

22 Comments

RiotGhostcrawlerOct 27, 201610 votes

Oleandervine is pretty much right.

The female seahorse transfers the eggs when they are still unfertilized and they become fertilized in the male's pouch. So in terms of who "gets pregnant?" the answer is the male.

As to why from an evolutionary sense this reproductive strategy occurs, and why it is so rare, I haven't seen a good explanation. Fish do weird things.

TequilaZombieOct 27, 20161 votes

That moment when the DESIGN DIRECTOR answers to a post like this. Gotta love Rioters.

Kei143Oct 27, 20164 votes

well... he DOES have a PhD in Marine Biology ..

Big LincolnOct 27, 20161 votes

how does that turn into a job at riot????

Kei143Oct 27, 20163 votes

hmm .. go into the twitch league of legends channel.

Look up Monthly GhostCrawler Q&A, he gives his story once every 2-3 months, cos people ask.

But the TLDR is that "Game designer" didn't really have degrees or diploma you could get like nowadays, so they hired people that are capable in solving problem spaces instead.

Virgin RayOct 31, 20161 votes

He's also really good at finding problems that seem a bit fishy.

DecritOct 27, 20161 votes

Heroes don't wear capes.

DarkRitualOct 27, 20161 votes

It's dangerous to go alone, take these!

Virgin RayOct 27, 20161 votes

I mean that's kinda weird, what if the male seahorse gets into a dad fight and then he loses? Wouldn't his kids get killed?

l Helios lOct 27, 20161 votes

Is this a textbook case of sexual role reversal? I know that tends to relate to the cases of promiscuous and polygamous mating systems, but is this actually an instance of that?

OleandervineOct 26, 20166 votes

They don't. They just carry around the eggs. Sea creatures don't get preggers, they lay eggs and the eggs hatch from there. Male seahorses don't actually incubate the eggs, they just carry them for protection.

JorenciceOct 26, 20161 votes

Bad GDer. MAke him use google.

I dont know how many people i know that still dont know how to properly use search engines.

Virgin RayOct 26, 201611 votes

Thank you, you must be an aquatic Sion tist

TerozuOct 26, 20166 votes

Did you seriously set this whole thing up... just to make a Sion pun..? sighs take my upvotes...

Virgin RayOct 27, 20169 votes

http://img.pandawhale.com/post-64678-My-Little-Pony-Discord-just-as-n7JD.gif

DecritOct 27, 20162 votes

Dude ask Ghostcrawler, he is the one who knows sea shit here.

JorenciceOct 26, 20161 votes

Does google not exist anymore?

Vhan8765Oct 26, 20165 votes

But clearly the greatest minds in the world gather here!

Virgin RayOct 26, 20165 votes

I find the boards a lot more reliable source than google.

ArakadiaOct 27, 20161 votes

Well fricken said.

RebonackOct 27, 20161 votes

I'm pretty sure male pipefish do something similar, though they just hold the eggs on their belly instead of having a pouch like sea horses do.

Some fish have weird reproductive strategies.

TBakesOct 27, 20161 votes

Sexual selection is a really weird area of study in animal behavior. I don't know how this evolved in seahorses. I'll look it up later and report back.

In mammals it does not happen this way because female eggs cost a lot more resources than male sperm. So it makes more sense for males to shoot their sperm everywhere possible, while females want to save their eggs for just the right mate. Female bodies are designed to carry children more effectively than males because of this. Maybe male seahorses have something special physiologically that allows them to carry the fertilized eggs more effectively than the females.

EDIT: here is a good article laying out some explanations: http://animals.mom.me/male-seahorses-give-birth-4198.html