Falklands’ Fisheries scientists discover mating habits of deep-sea squid
The mating habits of deep-sea squid have been revealed for the first time, after the discovery of a male squid with a huge elongated and erect penis, according to an article from the BBC credited to Matt Walker, Editor, Earth News.
The male squid's sexual organ is almost as long as the whole body, including the squid's mantle, head and arms.
That shows how male deep-sea squid inseminate females; they use their huge penis to shoot out packages of sperm, injecting them into the female's body.
The discovery may also help explain how giant squid mate in the ocean depths.
Deep-water fisheries expert Dr Alexander Arkhipkin of the Falkland Islands Government Fisheries Department, based in Stanley, explains how he and his colleagues made the discovery, details of which are published in the Journal of Molluscan Studies.
“The mature male squid was caught during a deep-water research cruise on the Patagonian slope. We took the animal from the catch, and it was moribund with arms and tentacles still moving, and chromatophores on the skin contracting and expanding,” he told the BBC.
“When the mantle of the squid was opened for maturity assessment, we witnessed an unusual event.
”The penis of the squid, which had extended only slightly over the mantle margin, suddenly started to erect, and elongated quickly to 67cm total length, almost the same length as the whole animal.“
The squid's sexual agitation caught the researchers by surprise.
However, its occurrence has helped solve a mystery of how deep-sea squid mate.
Biologists know much more about the mating habits of shallow water cephalopods, the group containing octopus, squid and cuttlefish.
All cephalopods are hindered by their body shape, which comprises a closed hood-type structure called a mantle, which forms most of what appear to be a cephalopod's body and head.
The animals use this mantle to move via jet propulsion, they must ventilate it to breathe, and they must also hide their excretory and sexual organs within its structure.
That poses a challenge to male cephalopods: how do they get their sperm past this mantle, and how does the sperm stay there when water is being forcibly passed through the mantle cavity so females can move and breathe?
Shallow water cephalopods have evolved a special arm to do the job.
They have short penises which produce packets of sperm, called spermatophores, then one of their eight limbs is modified to transfer this sperm to special receptacles on the female. These receptacles are located either on their skin, or internally.
Deep-water male squid are known to use a more primitive method, which involves somehow injecting their sperm into the female's body.
However, it remained a mystery as to how they did it, as they lack a modified arm.
”In deep-water squid we could only guess how this happens,“ says Dr Arkhipkin.
But the catching of the male deep-sea squid, of the species Onykia ingens, has revealed the answer.
”Obviously a strongly elongated penis is the solution,” says Dr Arkhipkin.
The squid uses its lengthy organ to reach into the body of the female, and it then injects the sperm directly to prevent it being washed away.
How the sperm injected into a female's body then reaches her reproductive organs remains a mystery.
It may circulate in the cephalopod's blood, just as it does in the bodies of gastropods, which are snail-like molluscs that are distantly related to cephalopods, which are also molluscs.
But it does suggest that one more outlandish theory about how giant squid reproduce may now be ruled out.
So few giant squid (Architeuthis dux) or its even larger relative the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) have been sighted or brought ashore that scientists have had to speculate about their mating habits.
Dead specimens have been found, but that made it impossible to see that they too likely have extremely long penises, which are tucked under their mantle, before being extended to reach the female, says Dr Arkhipkin.
“So some authors even hypothesised that the giant squid 'shoot' their spermatophores hydraulically from distance to the females,” he says.
“Obviously our findings show that the reproductive habits of giant squid may be bizarre, but not to that extent.”
Last month, the same researchers revealed research showing the discovery that some deep-sea fish and squid species have mysteriously migrated across the world, from the North Pacific Ocean to the southwest Atlantic. (BBC).-
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www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6241440/German-men-are-worlds-worst-lovers-with-English-men-in-second-place.html
what not a squid or a brit?
that´s an example of an objective and documented source of information. :-)
It sort of “lost its potency” somehow :-)
That's what I'm saying at (10)
I suppose you can't argue with your women about this one!
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6241440/German-men-are-worlds-worst-lovers-with-English-men-in-second-place.html
So better go out to the Pub and bully some Blackies...
That you are good at!
A second perspective is that of automatic and explicit or subconscious and conscious. Automatic or subconscious stereotyping is that which everyone does without noticing. Automatic stereotyping is quickly preceded by an explicit or conscious check which permits time for any needed corrections. Automatic stereotyping is affected by explicit stereotyping because frequent conscious thoughts will quickly develop into subconscious stereotypes.
A third method to categorizing stereotypes is general types and sub-types. Stereotypes consist of hierarchical systems consisting of broad and specific groups being the general types and sub-types respectively. A general type could be defined as a broad stereotype typically known among many people and usually widely accepted, whereas the sub-group would be one of the several groups making up the general group. These would be more specific, and opinions of these groups would vary according to differing perspectives
:-0
Nice, kid....
Good material....
Finally some information you didn’t get from “The Sun”
Do I begin to sense a spiring sprout of inquisitive interest in you, lad?
Well lads.......
The moment finally arrived...
My account has been “Regulated” (Closed:-)
Too much “Foul language I suppose???
After too many years with censorship in Argentina I don’t “think” it’s funny so..... ....
Let’s see if they delete this farewell!
(Sending this from a new account just to say good bye to the “intelligent ones”)
Take care
Wonder how Argentine's get on with that “huge elongated and erect penis”. Can't imagine that the women would be used to it. As for the men? Look for axel arg's comments. He's out of the closet and down to the beach.
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