March 12, 2010

When 2 Become 1





For you and I, when we're attracted to someone - be it mentally, physically or just plain sexually - we would zoom in on that person and forget about anybody else while we focus on our love interest. After a period of courting, that's when both the couples would proceed to make a decision to get married (or not) so that you can continue the human need for procreation. 


Love. Some people are so in love with each other they seem to be fused together. They seem to be able to read each other's minds. One don't need to finish a sentence because the other will finish it. But then again, how close is close? You can only seem to be "fused" together but you're not, well, literally fused into 1 right? But today, I would like to write about something I think is really cool. Something most of you probably didn't know, and honestly I didn't too until I read it in another person's blog.

Anglerfish

Anglerfish are the members of the order Lophiiformes which can be found in both the deep sea and continental shelf. The ones that live in open water are more laterally compressed while the ones living in bottom-dwelling fishes are more dorsoventrally compressed with large upwards pointing mouths (like the photo above).

Okay, that is a one ugly mother. And I call it a "mother" because it is a female. All types of Anglerfish that you can find in the sea that looks pretty much like the above are females. So, you ask me, where have all the males gone? Or is this type of fish asexual? Well, not exactly. And here's the cool part.

The deep sea Anglerfish males usually mature soon after metamorphosis whereas the females takes longer. One estimates that there are about 15 to 30 ripe males to every female, probably due to the difficulty in finding mates in the enormous sea. The males are also smaller in size compared to the females for example females of the Genus Gigantactis can grow to 40cm in length and its male only grow to 2cm

When male Anglerfishes were born, their only role was to search out for a female (how romantic is that?). The males have no bioluminescent lure, they have larger eyes which probably is to spot the female's lure and have much larger olfactory organ in front of their eyes. They have high sensitivity to the female's pheromones and can search for the females for miles even. The reason for that is because due to their small size, they are highly dependent on the females for safety.

Now once a male Anglerfish locates a female, the small male attaches himself to her by biting into her belly. After a few days, his teeth and jaw recedes, his skin fuses with the female's and their blood systems merge. Everything about the male regresses except for the one important internal organ which is its large testis. The female now do not have to worry because she is guaranteed with supply of sperms for when she's ready to reproduce while the male is now taken care of for life. Now due to the large size of the female in comparison to the male and also because of surviving needs, a female Anglerfish may have more than one male attached to her.

Finding Nemo

So, do you find it cool? I do. And if you need to understand more on the mating process, do view this video.




24 comments:

mariamichelle said...

Fascinating site and post. I;='m just now returning to entercard and sure I will be back to visit your great blog again soon :-D

LV said...

interesting information! i always thought this fish was ugly.. but don't judge a book by its cover i say coz there's something cool underneath all that big mouth.. :-D :-D :-D :-D thanks for sharing this information girl.. ;)

Dhemz said...

very interesting entry....thanks for coming by on my page...great to be here!

Razz Momma said...

whoa amazing! i agree that's one ugly mother :-D :-D i watched the video and was thinking how sad it would be to have something stuck at my back like that.. lol! :-D :-D :-D :-P :-P this is very informative doll!

Bella Enveeus said...

Thanks Dhemz.. Do come by again ya.. ;)

Bella Enveeus said...

Errr.. Are you saying you'd prefer to have something stuck "IN" you FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?? :-D :-D :-D O:-) O:-) O:-) Glad you liked it!

Bella Enveeus said...

Thank you mariamichelle.. Hope to have you around my site more often.. ;)

Bella Enveeus said...

Something cool underneath all that big mouth?? =-O =-O What are you saying?? :-P Yeah, I didn't know much about this fish at first. I just knew it has that bioluminescent lure like in Finding Nemo and I thought it was cool. But when I knew about the mating process, I thought it was cooler than anything! :-D :-D :-D

Vic said...

haha, like what Boys Like Girls and Taylor Swift sang - 2 is better than 1 :)

Monica said...

Hi Bella..this is interesting! 8-) 8-)

eastcoastlife said...

Fascinating post on the anglerfish. I like the thought of having males attached to me for life.... though not physically. hahaha.....

Karen Chow said...

I think this is very interesting. I think having a man who would be looking for you from the day he's born is part romantic and part creepy. hahahaha :-P

Bella Enveeus said...

Thanks.. LOL! Well, at least it's a sure shot of having someone for you.. Tho hopefully the jerks are not included.. :)

Bella Enveeus said...

LOL! Yeah I thought it was pretty fascinating too when I read about it. Ahhh.. If only we can get men like that.. :-D :-P

Bella Enveeus said...

Honestly, I kept having Spice Girls' song in my head, you know, the "2 Become 1" song.. HAHA..

Bella Enveeus said...

Thank you Monica.. Hope to have you around here more often.. ;)

Rizal said...

Thanks for sharing with us Bella. Now i know something..

Now that is what i call love comes in all sizes and shapes :-D

Bella Enveeus said...

No problem. I like sharing knowledge.. We can all learn together.. :)

Gives the term "stuck for life" a whole new meaning.. :-P

kenwooi said...

interesting.. thanks for sharing the information..
i saw the fish on nemo too but didnt know much.. nice! =)

http://kenwooi.com

Bella Enveeus said...

No problem.. I too didn't know at first but now we both do! Isn't it cool to share knowledge? :-D

Mariuca said...

:* :* :* :*

Mariuca said...

Wahhhhh very cool indeed Bella... I'm sure my B would be very interested in things lilke these, always like to watch Nat Geo and all the giant squids etc he he...

Bella Enveeus said...

:-D :-D ;) ;)

Bella Enveeus said...

Your B likes those giant squids and stuff? B-bunz too. He even downloads all those about giant squids, anacondas, giant animals from the Amazons.. It's pretty fascinating actually :)

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