Sexual parasitism in anglerfish

February 25, 2009 • 3:51 pm

Before I take off, I wanted to highlight one more marvel of evolution: the phenomenon of sexual parasitism in anglerfish.  There are many species of these deep-sea fish, who make their living as predators in the abyssal depths.  Because the population density is low, when a male finds a female his best strategy (apparently) is to fuse his tissues with hers, becoming in effect a permanently parasitic sack of gonads, whose only function is to fertilize the female (no anthropomorphizing, please!).  Sometimes more than one male attaches to a female.  Here are some photos.

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The phantom anglerfish, Haplophryne mollis, with male attached on bottom.

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Photocorynus spiniceps, an anglerfish from Sumatra. This female is 46 mm long (1.8 inches). Attached to her is a 6.2 mm male (about 0.25 inches), which may be the smallest sexually mature vertebrate known. Below is an enlarged photo of the male.

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