Like many animals, a seahorse’s life cycle varies between individuals and species. But there are six general stages of development or steps that most seahorses pass through: adult, daily greeting, courtship, pregnancy, birth and a juvenile stage.

A female seahorse lays dozens, sometimes hundreds, of eggs in a pouch on the male seahorse’s abdomen. After seahorse moms make their eggs, they pass them over to the males to carry until the young are released. When it’s time to give birth, the dad pumps water through the pouch, releasing hundreds of fry, or baby seahorses, in just a few minutes.