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Seahorses of this species have often been misidentified as H. coronatus (which, among other differences, has more tail rings) and H. mohnikei (which, among other differences, has 11 trunk rings, more tail rings, and double [low] cheek spines) (Lourie et al. 2004).
Although little is known about the biology of this particular species, for seahorses in general, it is the male, rather than the female, that becomes pregnant. The female inserts her ovipositor into the male’s brood pouch, where she deposits her eggs, which the male fertilizes. The fertilized eggs then embed in the male’s pouch. The pouch acts like the womb of a female mammal, complete with a placental fluid that bathes the eggs, and provides nutrients and oxygen to the developing embryos while removing waste products. See Project Seahorse for more information about the fascinating biology of seahorses.