One of the only varieties of fish, where males can bear babies, has been found with the ability to abort their baby if they find the mother in attractive.

To create baby pipe fishes (which are similar to seahorses), females deposit their eggs into sacs called brood pouches on the males. Males then start the process of fertilization of the eggs (between five and 40 per brood), and incubate them for about 14 days until they hatch, feeding them oxygen and nutrition through the pouch.

The researchers have been able to find some interesting facts about the way this species of fish mates with the females and carries their babies. Attraction plays a key role in determining whether the males are going to breed the babies in their pouches or not.

Kimberley Paczolt, a researcher from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, in her experiment, found that the males show more interest in those females which are bigger in size and are likely to keep their babies with them.

The researchers also found that when a male has two pregnancies in a row, if the first one results in a high birth rate, the embryos in the second pregnancy are less likely to be born.