View research View latest news Sign up for updates. Mating behaviour between a dwarf male and its hermaphrodite partner was observed for the first time in cirripedes using the androdioecious barnacle Scalpellum scalpellum. Mating between hermaphrodites was also observed. The dwarf males are located on the rim of the mantle cavity of the hermaphrodite partner. When mating, the male extends the penis, which is four times longer than its body. The penis first assumes a straight stance where it is waved around in a searching mode. Upon touching the cirri of the hermaphrodite, the penis and the cirri engage in prolonged contact during which hermaphrodite feeding is suspended. Thereafter the penis assumes a U-bend to reach into the brood chamber, where after the mantle valves are closed tightly around the penis. The nearly transparent penis is a tube of very thin cuticle, equipped with pairs of side branches but not containing any visible tissue. The penis enables the minute male, situated outside the brood chamber, to securely deposit sperm into its partner.


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A bizarre, hermaphrodite sea slug may give new meaning to the word "quickie. The animal, described today Feb. Nudibranches are simultaneous hermaphrodites , meaning that they have penises that they use to fertilize others as well as female sex organs. But exactly how their sex worked remained a mystery. To find out, Ayami Sekizawa, a biologist at Osaka City University, and his colleagues collected specimens of the nudibranch Chromodoris reticulata while scuba diving off Okinawa, Japan. They then put 31 pairs of the creatures together in an aquarium and watched as they mated.
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