pipefish copulation, which signifies the termination of the courtship dance, the female transfers her eggs through a small ovipositor into the male brood pouch or onto the special patch of skin on the male’s ventral body surface. While the eggs are being transferred, the mating pair rises through the water until implantation is complete. At this point, the male assumes an S-shaped posture and fertilizes the eggs, all the while descending back down the water column. Males possessing brood pouches release their sperm directly into them; the pouches are then vigorously shaken. The ventral seams are not opened until weeks later when the male pipefish give birth. A physical limit exists for the number of eggs a male pipefish can carry, so males are considered to be the limiting sex. Females can often produce more eggs than males can accommodate inside their brood pouches, resulting in more eggs than can be cared for. Other factors may restrict female reproductive success, including male pregnancy length and energy investment in progeny. Because the pipefish embryos develop within the male, feeding on nutrients supplied by him, male pipefish invest more energy than females in each zygote. Additionally, they invest more energy per unit time than females throughout each breeding season. As a result, some males may consume their embryos rather than continuing to rear them under situations to regain energy in which their bodies are exhausted of resources. Pregnant male pipefish can absorb nutrients from their broods, in a manner very similar to filial cannibalism found in many other families of fish. The smallest eggs in a brood of various egg sizes usually have lower survival rates than larger ones due to the larger eggs having a longer-lasting food source (absent contributions from the father), hence they more likely to develop into mature adults. In other instances, some pipefishes may consume the embryos of mates that seem less fit or desirable, as each male generally copulates with more than one female. Young are born free-swimming with relatively little or no yolk sac, and begin feeding immediately. From the time they hatch, they are independent of their parents, which at that time may view them as food. Some fry have short larval stages and live as plankton for a short while. Others are fully developed but miniature versions of their parents, assuming the same behaviors as their parents immediately. Pair bonding varies wildly between