Box jellyfish , the undisputedkings of the sting , are equipped with an peculiarly smutty weapon in the fight to fan out their genes : harpoon - armed spermatozoan .
A new subject area , published in theJournal of Morphology , depict that a pair of metal money of jellyfish have sperm cell computer software that are armed with barb design to anchor themselves to distaff sex organs and secure reproductive success .
This sneaky sexual strategy can be found in at least two mintage of box jellyfish , Copula sivickisiandTripedalia cystophora . Another recent studyby members of the same team show that the spiny sperm packages can be found inC.sivickisi , but researchers have now document the phenomenon inT. cystophoratoo .
maritime life scientist from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark hoard a number ofT. cystophorafrom their natural home ground around the shores of Puerto Rico and took a bass tone at the creatures ’ anatomy . They discovered that the sperm cell packages farm by the metal money are caked incnidocytes . Typically , they are"explosive " cells used to harm their enemies , whether vulture or prey , however , C. sivickisiandT. cystophorahave cnidocytes on their sperm packages .
Most cnidarians , the phylum of animate being that includes man-of-war and corals , do n’t regurgitate through sex in the same direction as most land animals . Instead , many of these ocean - live species forge their sex cells into the surrounding piss , hoping it will get picked up by appendage of the opposite sex .
These box jellyfish , however , do things a little second differently . The males package their spermatozoon and store it near a cavity used to condense food . If they come across a female they like the look of , they “ turn over over ” the packages using their tentacle . Once they get hold of the female person , it ’s thought the sperm - containing packets shoot out their harpoons and ground themselves to the female ’s gonads , expect fertilisation . This theory is stomach by the find of a pungent sperm software program in the gonads of one of the female jellyfish .
“ We have examined the gonads and gamete ofT. cystophoraand our results let on that the male person - produced spermatozeugmata have a high bit of … cnidocytes , which are transfer along with the sperm during copulation , ” the study writer pen . “ This tally further support to our conjecture that they are crucial for spermatozoon anchorage ground . ”
[ H / T : New Scientist ]
