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Abdopus spermatophore transfer

Neogonodactylus

Haliphron Atlanticus
Staff member
Moderator (Staff)
Joined
Mar 17, 2003
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662
My Abdopus sp.#5's have been mating up a storm giving me a chance to photograph some of the more intimate details. In this shot the male is out of view (above right), but you can see two of his arms coming into view. One has the female by the posterior mantle stabilizing his grip on her. The other, the hectocotylus comes in behind her head, wraps under her eyes and inserts into her mantle cavity. About 10 seconds earlier I watched the male transfer a spermatophore to the base of the hectocotylus. In this frame the spermatophore is moving down the hectocotylus and is entering the female's mantle cavity. It got hung up at this point for a few seconds, entered her cavity and then was quickly ejected. Mating lasted for about 10 minutes and at least three spematophores were passed to the female.
 

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VERY different than the mating of my two briareaus where the female was held from behind and kept covered and in place with arms and webbing (assuming to avoid predation). How many body lengths away is the male?
 

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