Northern Pipefish Mating

Former lab member Kim Paczolt just published a paper showing that northern pipefish, Syngnathus fuscus, have a surprisingly low rate of multiple mating by males. Like other syngnathid fishes (seahorses, pipefishes, and seadragons), males become pregnant and carry the offspring attached to their bodies or in a brood pouch. Kim’s results show that most males (about 3/4) have eggs from just one female per pregnancy. The rest carried eggs from two females in their pouches. The paper appeared in the April issue of the Journal of Fish Biology. Here’s a link to the abstract.