This is called parasitosis.
"When ceratioid males go looking for love, they follow a species-specific pheromone to a female, who will often aid their search further by flashing her bioluminescent lure. Once the male finds a suitable mate, he bites into her belly and latches on until his body fuses with hers. Their skin joins together, and so do their blood vessels, which allows the male to take all the nutrients he needs from his host/mate’s blood. The two fish essentially become one.
With his body attached to hers like this, the male doesn’t have to trouble himself with things like seeing or swimming or eating like a normal fish. The body parts he doesn’t need anymore—eyes, fins, and some internal organs—atrophy, degenerate, and wither away, until he’s little more than a lump of flesh hanging from the female, taking food from her and providing sperm whenever she’s ready to spawn."
That’s basically what’s happened to me.
This happened to my buddy Eric
I remember those tube like creatures put males in a pocket but anglers take it to next level. This planet is amazing.
Obligatory:
He literally becomes a brain dead corpse for this, how is he benefitting lol
The “force” that propells life forward doesn’t necessarily benefit the individual. There’s lots of cases where males are simply sperms donors. Male bees die after ejaculating. Natural selection just needs genetic material to be successfully delivered.
Honey, nut, cheerio.
all that matters is that the genes are passed on, don’t think about it as actively seeking it out, think of it as “only behaviour that results in procreation continues to exist”, if they had the ability to care about themselves and prioritize not turning into an accessory then they wouldn’t be having children and thus no more such fish would be created.
“The body parts he doesn’t need anymore—eyes, fins, and some internal organs—atrophy, degenerate, and wither away, until he’s little more than a lump of flesh hanging from the female, taking food from her and providing sperm whenever she’s ready to spawn.”
livin’ the dream
I understand even the brain dissolves.
Sounds reasonable to me.
right? stop trying to sell me…
This isn’t parasitism, because the female anglerfish gains fecundity. Also parasitism, mutualism, etc. are used to describe inter-species relationships, not intra-species relationships.
This guy ecologies
How does the fish immune system, such as it is, not reject the foreign organism? Is there something to be learned here re: organ transplant rejection? Like, for us, not fish. Although I have nothing against fish organ transplants. Into other fish, I mean.
Happy wife, happy life?
To the female anglerfish, the male human is a loud and overly complicated pair of gonads."
Dude you can’t make this disturbing shit up bro, jeebus
“Ah, whenever you’re ready, my flesh suitcase of sperm. I’ll be taking that sandwich now.”
boomer joke
Just like my wife…
though for real, she was abusive and really messed me up
So this is where human men learned it from.
I’ll see myself out 😜
