2 headed seahorse

[luvabunny]

My male erectus just had about 50 babies. All but 2 appear very healthy and large. One of those 2 has 2 heads, the other is 2 complete horses attached at the pouch.

There is a possibility that this is a brother / sister mating, but I "think" the previous owner told me they were unrelated. Even if they are brother / sister, they could only be 1st generation, as the daddy was a WC male.

This is a first for me. Anyone have any opinions on the why's? I find it hard to believe the parents were too closely related. Is there a possibility that there is another reason for the deformities? Maybe a problem with the male? Maybe a problem, like an electrical short or something, in my tank? Anyone else have any experience with this?

 

[sadsak]

Wow All I can say is thats crazy! Hope they live.

 

[Sk8r]

This, of course, happens in human births, and in frogs, cows, pigs, etc. It has to do with division of the initial forms of the embryo, and what should have been a twin doesn't quite make it. I don't think consanguinity even in seahorses is going to be a major cause---more likely chemical, in the environment, if not just a random act of nature. We do a lot of additives---sometimes we're not too precise. And what about that general pesticide seahorse tanks use? Lots of stuff floating about. Just figure it's an unusual occurance, not your fault.

 

[luvabunny]

Well, I talked to the previous owner and the two parent horses aren't related in any way, so that rules out genetic abnormalities.

I have just had the parent horses since 3/30/06. I'm not sure what the gestation on erectus is. It does vary from species to species. He may have been pregnant when I got him. If there are any chemical problems in my house or tank, I am unaware of them. It just seems strange that there would be actually 3 babies born malformed out of 1 brood. The 3rd baby just looks like he has a large egg sack, not another attached seahorse. I have seen large egg sacks on live bearing FW fish, but never two heads. Does this really happen with fish that much? I've heard of all you listed above, but not fish....

I was able to take some pics, but they are probably going to be hard to see. I will have to wait until tomorrow for help downloading them to the computer, so I can upload them here.

At the moment, both heads of the 2 headed horse are breathing, but not swimming. One of the pouch attached horses is alive, but I don't think the other is. I don't expect any of them to make it thru the night. It's so sad. I hope the other 50 babies which appear healthy are genetically OK. Now that tax season is over, I finally have some time to spend with them, and was looking forward to trying to get my first adult raised.

 

[Sk8r]

A biological glitch may have done this, rather than genes---a couple of eggs that just got a chemical hit at the wrong moment in their development, mechanically altered, so to speak. Even genetically identical twins don't have identical routing for nerves and bloodvessels, etc, which is much more a matter of hiccups of direction as the bloodvessels grow than it is a pattern laid down by DNA. I wouldn't worry about that male breeding unless it happens again---then I'd conclude it might be more than happenstance.