Editing Seahorse (section)

===Gestation===
[[File:Hippocampus haema mating.jpg|thumb|Seahorses in Phase 4 of courtship]]
The fertilized eggs are then embedded in the pouch wall and become surrounded by a spongy tissue.<ref name="Project Seahorse">{{cite web |title=The biology of seahorses: Reproduction |publisher=The Seahorse Project |url=http://seahorse.fisheries.ubc.ca/biology5.html |access-date=8 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303051206/http://seahorse.fisheries.ubc.ca/biology5.html |archive-date=3 March 2009}}</ref> The pouch provides oxygen,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dudley |first1=Jessica |title=Structural changes to the brood pouch of male pregnant seahorses (Hippocampus abdominalis) facilitate exchange between father and embryos |journal=Placenta |date=October 2021 |volume=114 |pages=115–123 |doi=10.1016/j.placenta.2021.09.002 |pmid=34517263 |s2cid=237505281 |hdl=2123/31726 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> as well as a controlled environment incubator. Though the egg yolk contributes nourishment to the developing embryo, the male sea horses contribute additional nutrients such as energy-rich lipids and also calcium to allow them to build their skeletal system, by secreting them into the brood pouch that are absorbed by the embryos. Further they also offer immunological protection, osmoregulation, gas exchange and waste transport.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Seahorse Brood Pouch Transcriptome Reveals Common Genes Associated with Vertebrate Pregnancy |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |date=2015-09-01 |issn=0737-4038 |pmid=26330546 |pages=3114–31 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msv177 |first1=Camilla M. |last1=Whittington |first2=Oliver W. |last2=Griffith |first3=Weihong |last3=Qi |first4=Michael B. |last4=Thompson |first5=Anthony B. |last5=Wilson |volume=32 |issue=12 |doi-access=free|hdl=20.500.11850/110832 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

The eggs then hatch in the pouch, where the salinity of the water is regulated; this prepares the newborns for life in the sea.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{Cite journal |doi=10.2307/4012130 |url=http://ase.tufts.edu/biology/labs/lewis/news/articles/2000ScienceNews.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818082935/http://ase.tufts.edu/biology/labs/lewis/news/articles/2000ScienceNews.pdf |archive-date=2011-08-18 |url-status=deviated |jstor=4012130 |title=Pregnant: And Still Macho |journal=Science News |volume=157 |issue=11 |pages=168–170 |year=2000 |last1=Milius |first1=S.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |pmid=10640362 |year=2000 |last1=Masonjones |first1=H. D. |last2=Lewis |first2=S. M. |title=Differences in potential reproductive rates of male and female seahorses related to courtship roles |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=11–20 |doi=10.1006/anbe.1999.1269 |s2cid=5999610}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |author=Danielson, Stentor |work=National Geographic News |date=14 June 2002 |title=Seahorse Fathers Take Reins in Childbirth |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/06/0614_seahorse_recov.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020624035320/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/06/0614_seahorse_recov.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 June 2002}}</ref>