Sexual Parazitism: Females Carrying Harems of Parazite Males

Many males have a bad life. We use to say that the male is an appendix of the penis. In octopuses and other cephalopods, the contact of the female with the male is made only with his penis (hectocotylus, represented by the male's eighth arm). In other species, like spiders or praying mantises, males starts to be eaten even during the copulation.

But the case of the Deep Sea Angler fishes is revolting for the male kind... There are 18 families of angler fish, which have the first spiny ray of the dorsal located on the head and transformed into line and esca (bait), aimed for attracting prey to the mouth, imitating small marine creatures making the fish's food. The jaws reaction is automatic, being determined by whatever touches the esca.

Those of the genus Lophius (monkfish, goosefish, fishing-frog, frog-fish, sea-devil), even if with a grotesque body shape, are of great commercial interest, the meat being compared to lobster tail in taste and texture. In Japan, each fish can cost up to $150; and the liver alone, an appreciated delicacy, can go up to $100. But this is a fairy compared to its abyssal relatives.

One example of Deep Sea Angler is black seadevil (Melanocetus johnsonii), a grotesque-looking fish with huge fangs and deformed body (the mouth makes most of it) living at depths of 100-2,700 m (330-9,000 ft). They have luminous baits for attracting their preys! The fact that this female angler is damn ugly does not matter in the dark deep. To attract a male, she releases a pheromone that arouses him so much that he is compelled to pursue and bite on to her. And he never leaves her! Anyway, he is a minute dwarf compared to her: the female has up to 18 cm (7.2 in), while the male a maximum of 2.9 cm (1 in).

In fact, the male turns fused to her and their circulatory systems connect. His anatomy alters( the gut disappears) and he basically becomes a blob of testicles on her skin. Then she hormonally commands him to release sperm when she needs, so that he is her permanent sex slave. The male always attaches under the abdomen, close to her tail, in the right position for fertilizing her eggs. And 'the male' is not correctly said: a female can have up to 11 males attached to her!

This sexual parasitism is required by the life in the abyssal depths, where finding a mate is not so easy. Tough life for the males!