WIKIMEDIA, BERND
Male pipefish are known for their unique role in carrying and nurturing developing eggs, which are unusually large for the size of the adult fish. It has long been thought that pipefish dads also somehow supply extra oxygen to their eggs, encouraging their growth. However, according to a study published last month (June 3) in the The Journal of Experiential Biology, the oxygen saturation within the male’s embryo-incubating pouch is much lower than expected.
Researchers at the University of Zurich, the University of Gothenburg, and Uppsala University in Sweden investigated the oxygen question using wild-caught male pipefish mated with females in captivity.
The team split the males into two environments with either 100 percent or 40 percent oxygen-saturated water and allowed pregnancy to continue for ...
