The Strange Romance of Seahorses
October 02, 2024 at 12:01AMIn this excerpt from The World Beneath: The Life and Times of Unknown Sea Creatures and Coral Reefs, marine biologist Richard Smith recounts some of the incredible seahorse behavior he’s witnessed with his own eyes: a pregnant male pygmy seahorse giving birth, courtship dances, male seahorse brawls, and even a ménage à trois. It’s an awe-filled look into Smith’s doctoral research on the biology and conservation of gorgonian-associated pygmy seahorses.
The gorgonian coral buzzed with activity soon after my arrival. Tom, with a belly swollen like a miniature basketball, swam out from the little nook he shared with his gorgonian-mates, to an exposed edge of the expanse. Without much ado, he bent over, expelling numerous tiny black specks into the ocean. These specks, of course, were the brood of young that he had been nurturing in his pouch for the past two weeks. Another couple of contractions and the baby seahorses were released into the water. Before being carried off in the current, the babies uncurled to reveal their heritage; they resembled darkened miniature versions of their parents.
Tom was visibly drained after the birth. His previously rotund physique heaved with stress and exhaustion, now he was surely the only male in the animal kingdom with stretch marks. This would be the only moment of rest for Tom; his day had just begun.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2024/10/01/the-strange-romance-of-seahorses/
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