News Animals

Pregnant male pipefish not so great at giving embryos oxygen

Big guys better at gas exchange, possibly explaining their appeal to females

a broad-nosed pipefish

BREATHLESS  Among the broad-nosed pipefish (shown), males carry fertilized eggs to term inside a long, narrow brood pouch with mediocre oxygenation or worse.

© Andrey Nekrasov/Alamy

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

When a pipefish dad gets pregnant, his brood pouch delivers a surprisingly meager amount of oxygen to the embryos developing inside.