| The reproductive and feeding biology of the lined seahorse, Hippocampus erectus, was studied in Chesapeake Bay. Seahorses are monogamous, and males incubate the eggs received from females in a closed brood pouch (= marsupium). Females do not play any parental care after mating. Total sex ratio and the operational sex ratio was strongly skewed toward females. Males and females had similar number of eggs/embryos and hydrated oocytes, respectively. The number of eggs/embryos found in the male brood pouch varied from 97 to 1,552 (fish from 80 to 126 mm TL), whereas the number of hydrated oocytes in female varied from 90 to 1,313 (fish from 60 to 123 mm TL). Both, the number of eggs/embryos and hydrated oocytes were better linearly correlated to total weight... |
