Seahorse

In seahorses, it is the males who carry offspring to term. The females lay their eggs into a special brood pouch on the bellies of the males where they are fertilized by the male's sperm. In the brood pouches, embryos are provided with nutrients and oxygen from the males' bodies until the males give live birth to small seahorses (viviparity). But how does this work?

If you're reading this sentence, you might have a fish to thank. Fish were the first animals to evolve jaws. They use their jaws primarily to eat, but also for defense, as tools—such as to burrow or to crack open hard food—and even as a form of parental care: some fish carry eggs or their young in their mouths. Jaws are a trait that scientists think fueled evolution among vertebrates, including us.

Pygmy seahorses are remarkable creatures. These tiny marine vertebrates, often no bigger than two centimeters in size, are masters of camouflage, able to match the texture and color of the coral in which they live. Some species even have tiny bumps on their skin that mimic the polyps of gorgonian sea corals. Blending into the background makes them almost invisible to predators and divers trying to spot them.

A conservation project led by UNSW scientists is rebuilding lost underwater pastures within the city's harbor—and at the same time helping to recover an endangered seahorse population.

South Australian beaches have been awash with foamy, discolored water and dead marine life for months. The problem hasn't gone away; it has spread.