Literature Review and Commentary

摘要

Seahorses and their relatives, the pipefish, pipehorses, and seadragons (family Syngnathi-dae), have evolved an innovative structure, the brood pouch, which allows the males of the species to care for the young. The fleshy pouch is lined on the insidewith a vascularized epithelium in which embryos are embedded in a honeycomb-like pattern. Embryos may or may not be nourished through the pouch, but it is agreed upon that the father provides them oxygen and an osmotically neutral environment. This feat is accomplished through an increase in mitochondria-rich cells in the pouch epithelium, which shuttle ions between the pouch fluid and the father's blood, from which it is derived, during the course of pregnancy.