Seahorse Fathers

It’s true that male seahorses never play catch with their children or help them with their homework. But they do outdo human dads on one count. (1)The trait is unique in these strange and fascinating fish that inhabit tropical and temperate coastal waters worldwide. Seahorses, which range from less than an inch to a foot in length, have evolved a series of unusual adaptations. (2)

The male seahorse has a pouch（育兒袋）on its stomach in which to carry babies as many as 2000 at a time. A pregnancy lasts from 10 to 25 days depending on the species. (3)Eventually they engage in a true courtship dance, which can last as long as eight hours. It ends with the female depositing her eggs in the male's pouch.

The eggs hatch in the pouch. (4)When the tiny seahorses are ready to be born the male undergoes muscular contractions to expel the young known as “fly” from the pouch.

While seahorse dads go the extra mile to give birth the parents do not provide their tiny offspring with any care or protection after they are born. Infant seahorses are susceptible to death from predators（食肉動物）and being swept into ocean currents where they drift away from feeding grounds rich in microscopic organism. (5)

A.The father cares for the young as they grow regulating the water salinity（鹽分） in the pouch to prepare them for life in the sea.

B. They are such an unusual looking fish that people sometimes don't realize they're real fish.

C. Male seahorses undergo pregnancy and give birth to their sons and daughters.

D. In spite of all our scientific research, we are only just beginning to understand how the seahorse fathers bear children.

E. The reproductive process begins when a male and a female seahorse do daily predawn dances their tails and swimming together.

F. Fewer than five infant seahorses in every 1000 survive to adulthood which helps explain why the litters are so large.

正確答案:CBEAF

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