Male seahorses have babies

One of the more well-known seahorse facts is this one. Seahorses swim together, interweave their tails, change colors, and use the same anchor point during their courtship rituals. When they mate, the male carries the female's eggs until they hatch in a pouch on his belly.

The male will repeatedly clench his abdomen when it's ready to give birth, spitting out small, fully developed seahorses. A few weeks, or maybe even months, pass throughout the gestation period. Seahorse labor is a long and exhausting process, with some species' contractions lasting up to 12 hours. The pouch of a male seahorse can hold up to 2,000 fries.

The old wives' story that men were the ones giving birth gave rise to the stereotype of men as the givers of children. Usually, a male seahorse needs to relax during pregnancy. The male is free to start laying yet another batch of eggs while the female is occupied caring for the fry, speeding up mating and enabling higher rates of reproduction. The moment the current batch of fry emerges from the male's pouch, he is prepared to host another clutch.