How Do Saltwater Fish Mate?

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Nadine Slimak at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium. I'm here today talking about saltwater fish and how they mate. There, it's a really interesting question because there are many different methods of reproduction in the marine world. For instance, common snook here in Southwest Florida use broadcast spawning to reproduce. That means males and females gather along the beaches then in the process during the right tide at the right moon face during the right time of the year. When this happens, they're gathering, the males release their sperm then the females release their eggs. The sperm and eggs meet in the water column and fertilize, and eventually new snook develop. Other species, for instance the common seahorse here in Southwest Florida, it's the only instance of males carrying babies to term. What happens with seahorses is that females deposit their eggs into the pouch of the males and the males carry the babies until they fully developed and are ready to be released. Another method of reproduction among saltwater fish that's pretty interesting is sharks. They actually have internal fertilization which is more common to marine mammals or humans like us. That means the male and female actually mate in some species and the female in, for instance in the great hammerhead, carry the babies to term until they're ready to be released and swim off on their own. At Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, I'm Nadine Slimak and we're talking about saltwater fish."