When you think of creatures with a pouch, you probably think of the kangaroo. But there’s a fish that has a pouch for its young, and even more surprising, the pouch is found on the male! It’s the male sea horse.
The male sea horse has a small pouch near his tail. The female sea horse deposits her eggs, up to 200 at one time, in the male’s pouch, which is then sealed with a sticky secretion. The male carries around the eggs with him for about 45 days.
Then, when the eggs are ready to hatch, the male sea horse hooks his tail onto a piece of seaweed and sways back and forth with the water currents. These movements force his pouch open, and the baby sea horses then swim out.
Sea horses can live as long as six years!
