Page 75 - (DK) I Can’t Believe It! 2

STRANGE BUT TRUE! 73

The female seahorse makes the eggs
inside her body. Male and female
entwine tails and perform a long
courtship dance that ends with the
female depositing the eggs in the male’s
pouch. The male fertilizes the eggs
and they hatch inside his pouch. The
embryos take in everything they need,
from oxygen to food, in a gestation
period that lasts up to four weeks.

Fewer than
five in 1,000
young seahorses
survive into
adulthood.

FAST FACTS
Horse-like Long
head snout

Brood
pouch

Grasping
tail
Male Female
Seahorses are marine fish found in
warm, shallow waters all over the world.
Their bodies are protected by bony plates,
rather than scales. Poor swimmers, they use
their grasping tail to cling to vegetation and
their long snout to suck up plankton.

US_072-073_309600_Dedicated_dad.indd 73 19/12/17 12:56 pm