When we say those damn liberals are studying fucking cuttlefish, it's not any exaggeration and you, too, can enjoy a vicarious experience of cuttlefish romance and its defense.
Akkaynak, Derya and Allen, Justine J.
Male cuttlefish compete for females with a repertoire of visually dramatic behaviors. Laboratory experiments have explored this system in Sepia officinalis but corroborative field data have eluded collection attempts by many researchers. While SCUBA diving in Turkey, we fortuitously filmed an intense sequence of consort/intruder behaviors in which the consort lost then regained his female mate from the intruder. These agonistic bouts escalated in stages, leading to fast dramatic expression of the elaborate Intense Zebra Display and culminating in biting and inking as the intruder male attempted a forced copulation of the female. When analyzed in the context of game theory, the patterns of fighting behavior were more consistent with mutual assessment than self assessment of fighting ability. Additional observations of these behaviors in nature are needed to conclusively determine which models best represent conflict resolution, but our field observations agree with laboratory findings and provide a valuable perspective.
More Information available at:
https://doi.org/10.7301/Z0PR7SX4
- YouTube
The Rockhouse is not clear on the basis for the current obsession in researchers for studying cephalopod sex but we're guessing it must be due to the Spring and researchers get kind of giddy that way. (Ithaka: You Don't Know Hot Until You Know Squid Lovemaking - Science)
You can read more about these libidinous li'l love muffins at Brown University: Dramatic fighting by male cuttlefish for a female mate (same link as provided above in the YouTube notes)
Akkaynak, Derya and Allen, Justine J.
Male cuttlefish compete for females with a repertoire of visually dramatic behaviors. Laboratory experiments have explored this system in Sepia officinalis but corroborative field data have eluded collection attempts by many researchers. While SCUBA diving in Turkey, we fortuitously filmed an intense sequence of consort/intruder behaviors in which the consort lost then regained his female mate from the intruder. These agonistic bouts escalated in stages, leading to fast dramatic expression of the elaborate Intense Zebra Display and culminating in biting and inking as the intruder male attempted a forced copulation of the female. When analyzed in the context of game theory, the patterns of fighting behavior were more consistent with mutual assessment than self assessment of fighting ability. Additional observations of these behaviors in nature are needed to conclusively determine which models best represent conflict resolution, but our field observations agree with laboratory findings and provide a valuable perspective.
More Information available at:
https://doi.org/10.7301/Z0PR7SX4
- YouTube
The Rockhouse is not clear on the basis for the current obsession in researchers for studying cephalopod sex but we're guessing it must be due to the Spring and researchers get kind of giddy that way. (Ithaka: You Don't Know Hot Until You Know Squid Lovemaking - Science)
You can read more about these libidinous li'l love muffins at Brown University: Dramatic fighting by male cuttlefish for a female mate (same link as provided above in the YouTube notes)
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