
Reproduction
When a pair are ready to mate they will take several days to do so. First they are going to spend time with a variety or rituals that are called courtship. This allows them to mimic the movements of each other. Only when they have that down can the females put the eggs into a sponge like patch on the tail. This is one of the few species of seahorses where the male doesn’t have a pouch to hold the eggs.
Like all seahorses it is the male who will carry them and give birth to them. The gestation period is about 8 weeks. As the young emerge they will instinctively be able to care for themselves. This can be tough to do though with an array of predators around including penguins and fish.
The mortality rate is about 98% in the wild for this particular species of seahorse. That is why with high numbers of them being captured for commercial fishing and to use for medicine they are dropping fast in their overall numbers in the wild.
(source:google/http://www.seahorseworlds.com/)
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