...but not in the way you might think!

In a move that gives hope to overweight men everywhere, the female seahorse picks the male with the biggest belly!

There’s a clue in the name of the species - the Australian big-bellied seahorse. Living Coasts marine biologist Jodie Peers explained: “In seahorses, the male becomes pregnant. The belly is the brood pouch, which is like a womb – this is where the male carries the eggs.

“Breeding can start when they are about eight months to one year old. Ours are around 9 months old. There has been no mating yet, but the males are displaying their puffed out pouches to the females, and one pair has started to link tails, which is the first stage of courtship.”

No one knows exactly why the females choose the male with the biggest belly, although it could be a sign of virility – something that would make a lot of human males very envious!

Living Coasts is home to 4 female and 14 male Australian big-bellied seahorses. They arrived in July, coming from an approved specialist breeding centre called Simply Seahorses. They can be found in the Local Coasts indoor area, which opened in July and is also home to starfish and cuttlefish, and features one tank that children can crawl underneath.

Living Coasts is keeping Australian big-bellied seahorses – Hippocampus abdominalis, which – like the native seahorses, are a temperate species - to help get feeding and care procedures right before introducing native British seahorses.

Jodie: “They have a fascinating social life. Every morning a pair will entwine their prehensile – grasping - tails and dance together for up to 10 minutes, changing colour and promenading across the seabed – it’s really lovely to see.”

Courtship involves colour changes and postural displays. Males inflate their pouches like balloons using water. At the same time the pouch turns white or pale yellow. If mating is successful then the male is pregnant for about 30 days.

This is one of the largest seahorse species in the world – they can grow up to 35cm in length. All seahorses are listed on Appendix II of CITES.