Skip to main content

Can We Help?: Can seahorse dads really have babies?

Posted 
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
A seahorse swims amongst seaweed
Can We Help?: Can seahorse dads really have babies?

SUBJECTS:  Science

YEARS:  3–4, 5–6


Peter Rowsthorn visits Melbourne Aquarium to answer the question 'Do male seahorses give birth to their young?'

Discover the answer as a marine expert describes Syngnathids, a unique family of fish.

Learn what makes the seahorse and the sea dragon so unusual in the marine animal world.


Things to think about

  1. 1.If someone asked you to draw a fish, what shape would it be? A 'seahorse' is a type of fish that has a very different shape from most fish. What do you know about seahorses? What do they look like? How do you think seahorses raise their young?
  2. 2.Why might a male seahorse puff up its belly in front of female seahorses? Listen carefully to how seahorses mate. The female has a special organ called an 'ovipositor'. What is that for? How many seahorse young are born at a time? Do seahorses care for their young after they are born?
  3. 3.Most bony fish reproduce by spawning. During spawning, the eggs are fertilised outside the fishes' bodies. Most bony fish then abandon (leave) their eggs. Why do fish produce such large numbers of eggs? (Hint: think about the risks for unguarded eggs.) How does seahorse reproduction differ from that of most bony fish? How does this form of reproduction help seahorse young survive?
  4. 4.Make a flowchart to show the process of seahorse reproduction. Illustrate each step. Add labels like 'male', 'pouch', 'eggs' and 'ovipositor'. How have other fish adapted their method of reproduction to improve the survival of their young? To answer this question, investigate how one of these fish reproduces: sea perch, nurseryfish, marine catfish, or stickleback. Present your findings in an interesting way.


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Posted