A Very Special Dad!

“Adriana, are you ready?” asked Annie excitedly. “It’s your first performance! I am so happy for you!” Adriana gave a twirl in the water and gracefully descended beside Annie. “I know”, she said, her eyes shining. “It’s a dream come true for me!” Adriana and Annie were female seahorses who were going to perform at the Annual Marine Dance Festival, along with many other seahorses and other fish.

Adriana, who was giving her first performance, was excited, but also nervous. “Do you think I will do well?” she asked Annie in a jittery voice. “I am so worried I might forget the steps!” “You will do absolutely fine”, said Annie. “You are a much better dancer than me! I just wonder why you never participated before.”

Father’s day is celebrated worldwide on the third Sunday of June, and this year, it fell on the 18th of June, 2017. While everyone treasures special memories with their dad, it’s time we looked at one of the most impressive dads in the animal world.Seahorses (Hippocampus sps.) are tiny fishes which have heads that look like horse’s heads, hence the name.

The most striking feature of the seahorses is that it is the male seahorse that gives birth, and not the female! The male seahorse has an abdominal pouch (similar to a kangaroo’s) called the brood pouch, in which the female seahorse deposits her eggs. The fertilized eggs become surrounded by a spongy tissue. From oxygen to food, the entire nutrition of the eggs is taken care of in the male seahorse’s brood pouch.

It also supplies the eggs with ‘prolactin’, the same hormone that is responsible for milk production in mammals. The eggs are then hatched in the pouch after a period of 45 days, and the baby seahorses, ranging from numbers of 100 to 1000, are released into the water. However, seahorses do not look after their young after birth.The seahorse is also interesting in several other ways:

it is the only fish that has a distinguishable “neck”, and it’s body is streamlined to swim only vertically upwards. Their bodies are not covered by scales, but by hard bony plates. Seahorses can change their colour to blend into the surroundings and also pair for life.

“I wonder if Anton will come”, said Adriana sadly. “I got so mad at him the last time he took me out for dinner that I might have scared him away for good.”“Oh, don’t worry, he will come”, said Annie with an air of confidence.“Really? Did he tell you?” asked Adriana eagerly.

“What? No, no, nothing of that sort”, said Annie. But she had a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.The festival was already in full swing and the seahorses could be called any minute. Adriana anxiously chewed on a bit of seaweed. “And now, we have the beautiful and talented Swaying Seahorses of the ocean ready to perform the ballet!” called the anchor, a young and energetic salmon.

Adriana and Annie joined their group and moved on to the stage. The audience was already applauding in anticipation. The seahorses moved on, swirling and twirling with grace, and soon had the crowds ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’ to their elegant moves. When the performance was over, the seahorses got a standing ovation.

Adriana, who was in the front row, blushed with pride and pleasure. Suddenly she spotted a face in the crowd. “Anton! He’s here!” she whispered excitedly to Annie. “He came to see the performance after all!”As the seahorses trooped out, Annie told her to go ahead and meet Anton. “You can join us later again. Go on!” she urged.

Adriana pushed through the crowd to reach Anton. “I’m so glad you came!” she said breathlessly, her face beaming. “I’m really sorry about that night. You’re not angry with me, are you?” she asked, worried about Anton’s reaction.“I am so angry, that I brought you this”, said Anton, and handed her a box.

When she opened it, she found a beautiful engagement ring made of coral! “Congratulations!!” shouted the entire Swaying Seahorses team, who had been in on it from the beginning. Adriana was delighted, and of course, said yes. Very soon, the two were married, and living happily together, planning their future home and family. Adriana took a break from her dancing, and Anton was busy building the perfect house for them in the sea, surrounded by corals and long sea grasses.

It was quite unexpectedly one day, that Annie dropped in to see them. Anton was not at home, but Adriana happily welcomed her in. “Adriana, we’re going to perform at the Great Pacific Event soon. How would you like to have a solo performance at the event?” Adriana jumped up in joy.

This was exactly the moment she had been waiting for her entire life! “Of course, I would! That’s so wonderful! Thank you so much Annie!” “Well, you see the organisers of the Dance Festival were really impressed with you, and they felt you deserved a chance to perform on this occasion”, said Ana. “So you see, it’s not me, but… hey, what’s wrong?”

Adriana wasn’t looking very happy anymore. She was looking quite worried instead! “It does make me happy Annie… but, but.. Anton and I were just planning to bring in our babies, since our home is almost ready, and… oh, what will Anton say?” “But this is an opportunity of a lifetime!” cried Annie.

“You can’t just miss it like that!” “She won’t miss it, Annie”, said a voice. It was Anton! “But Anton, you were looking forward to having our little ones come soon, and if I go, who will take care of the eggs?” asked Adrianna, feeling guilty and sad at the same time.

“You were looking forward to this opportunity too, Adrianna”, said Anton gently. “It would be selfish on my part to keep you here when your success lies there. And I will take care of the eggs.”

Adrianna was impressed with Anton’s confidence. “Alright, if you say so”, she said. “Thank you so much for understanding me, Anton, and supporting my dreams!” Two months before the performance, Adrianna left her eggs in Anton’s pouch and left with Annie to prepare for the big event.

Her thoughts were however occupied about how her babies were coming along. Annie gave her the much needed motivation. “You have to concentrate on the performance! Remember that Anton has supported you to come this far.You shouldn’t let him down!” Adrianna agreed, and put in her heart and soul into her practice.

On the day of the event, Adrianna stepped on to the stage confidently. The crowd was already clapping and shouting her name. Adrianna gave a terrific performance, and was envied by the other dancers at the event. “What a beautiful dancer she is!” they commented. “So talented!” Adrianna’s performance was the best that day.

The crowd’s applause and calls for an encore lifted her spirits. But now that the performance was over, her thoughts went back to home. As she bowed one last time and lifted her head to look at the audience, she found, to her amazement, Anton and a big crowd of tiny baby seahorses! “Mamma, we love you!” they called. “You dance so well Mamma! We miss you!” Adrianna lost no time in joining Anton and her young ones. She hugged her baby seahorses happily.

“Mamma, we’re so impressed with you”, cried one of her young ones. “We want to be as talented as you!” “No, my babies, your Dad is the hero who took care of you and brought you into this world! As much as I would like you to be as talented as me, I would be happier if you turn out to be as devoted a father as Anton!” said Adrianna, while Anton looked on in pride and joy.

- Sneha Verghese is a research scholar in Journalism at Osmania University, Hyderabad. Also a post-graduate in biotechnology, she loves teaching and writing stories for kids to explain scientific concepts