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Nearly all species of seahorses develop long-term pair bonds, and
remain faithfully dedicated to their partners. During the latter part of
the day I witnessed these two aquarium specimens* engaged in what appeared to be a greeting or mating
ritual, as they faced each other belly to belly and ascended the water
column. They may have been mating or about to mate, since this is very
similar to the position in which the female inserts the eggs into the
male's brood pouch (the seahorse is on the left is definitely a female). The actual transfer happens in
only a few seconds, though in some species the entire mating ritual may take place over
several hours. With H. whitei (White's
seahorse) for example, the two partners may change color and pirouette
around an object for up to nine hours, with intermittent periods when
they loop their tails together and parade across the bottom.
In some species the "morning greeting" is observed to consist
of the male and female swirling with their tails around a common object,
and grasping tails as they twirl around in a type of dance for several
minutes. Afterward they both go about their own business for the rest of
the day. This behavior seems to promote familiarity between mates, which
is important since when the female is ready to mate the transfer of eggs
must take place within a limited time (around 24 hours in some studies)
before the eggs are discarded.
Identification: not yet identified, I'm working on it
*background replaced with seawater image
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![seahorse #18, [142K]](seahorse_18.jpg)
