Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Squid sex: a shot in the dark

What do you do if you're a lonely male squid? Fire your sperm at the first potential partner you see, regardless if it's male or female.

That's life in the deep sea where sex partners can be hard to find. A new study shows that male Octopoteuthis deletron attempt to copulate at the first sign of another member of their species, without bothering to learn first whether it's a female.

They deposit spermatophores on the backside of other squid using a long penis-like organ, and the lucky deposits made on females are absorbed and used to fertilize her eggs.

Just one of many strange ways that deep sea creatures reproduce.

1 comment:

Tyler said...

Another discovery to the tangled sex lives of squid.

According to a report, "No foreplay, no tender caresses, no fond farewells until the next union, just a desperate drive to reproduce followed by a glancing quickie and an early death."

What a tragic faith!