- Joined
- Feb 9, 2008
- Messages
- 235
I wonder, because it seems like so many people describe their octopuses laying eggs, it seems like the population is dominated by females. Is their any evidence of this in the progeny, or is it just a coincidence.
L8 2 RISE;112794 said:Could it have something to do with temperature? For example, in Caretta caretta, if the temperature of incubation is ~24-26 C the egg will most likely be male, if the temperature of incubation is ~32-34 C the egg will most likely be female, in between those 2 temperatures is neutral and usually results in a 1:1 ratio. Is this the case with octo eggs? If this is the case, could climate change have anything to do with a higher population of female octos?
gjbarord;112804 said:I would think that the sex ratios in the wild are fairly balanced given that most octopus will die shortly after mating. There would be no advantage to having more males than females, or the reverse. Although, sperm competition has been noted in cuttlefish so perhaps more males exist in the wild???
monty;112802 said:There are no species of cephs that ever change sex or hermaphrodites....
Steve O'Shea;112937 said:Mark, Henk Hoving published a VERY interesting paper on hermaphrodite (I recall male and female structures, but not sure if fully functional) squid off South Africa. Brain is too exhausted to recall the details, but it came out last year in 'Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries' (I think the title was). Tomorrow I'll cite more, with literature at hand.