Prior to egg deposition into the
brood pouch, mature oocytes or eggs were seen in the thoracic segments of adult females (Fig.
Male pregnancy in seahorses and pipefishes (Family Syngnathidae): Rapid diversification of paternal
brood pouch morphology inferred from a molecular phylogeny.
The reproductive state of adult males (full or empty
brood pouch) was determined by visual (and in ambiguous cases, manual) inspection.
Embryos were removed from the
brood pouch of 37 randomly selected females.
parmerong was determined by adult host plant choice, the mobility of juvenile amphipods after release from the maternal
brood pouch was assessed.
First, each
brood pouch was divided into 14 sections and marked [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 1B OMITTED].
A female "impregnated" him by inserting eggs in his
brood pouch. He then fertilized the eggs and nurtured the embryos until they were ready to be on their own.
Although the duration of incubation is not known, all embryos in the
brood pouch of a single individual are at comparable stages of development.
The radioactively labelled eggs could then be tracked using special instruments which registered how the nutrients moved from the embryos into the
brood pouch and furthermore into the body of the male pipefish.
"The
brood pouches would have helped young trilobites survive."
The young chick is then brooded in the guard phase, spending time balanced on its parent's feet and sheltered in the
brood pouch.
(2000) point out that retention of competent offspring within
brood pouches represents a form of extended parental care.