Deep sea anglerfish look like a shrunken head with long teeth and a flashlight popping out.
So basically they look like a horror movie wrapped in a nightmare. Which is maybe unfair, but SORRY NOT SORRY ANGLERFISH? Sometimes you look like snot instead, maybe that is better?
But sometimes that is just how it goes. But I know, I know. You are just searching for love. And by searching for, I mean waiting for love to find them. And by love, I mean a set of testicles.
Those fishies above are the LADIES and they are seeking a bang buddy. Or two. Or three. Or whatever. They swim around leaving their scent in their path.
The dudes, the tiny little dudes, have big eyes and nostrils and are swimming through the deep dark waters hoping for a whiff or glance of a sexy mama. And once they find her, they LATCH ON FOR LIFE and become a literal part of their woman.
These teeny swimmers absorb INTO their wifey. They basically don’t have any organs other than ‘nads, so they get all of their life-sustaining goods (food! oxygen!) from their host/sugar mama.
Remember that picture of the snot-fish? That little blob on top? That’s her sugarbaby.
modified from above
They in turn provide her with a supply of their own teeny swimmers, so all the hard work of finding a baby daddy is done!
Here is a weird-ass Animal Planet video that has an animation of how this would work with humans?? Because that is clearly what we need here.
BUT THERE’S MORE! And by more, I mean more sperm. Because sometimes she will end up with more than one fella attached.
no good source for this, sorry!
Get it gurrrl!
EDIT! Someone asked: But where does fertilization take place?! Still just spewed into the ocean? Which is a TOTALLY AWESOME QUESTION!
The answer is YES, they still spew! Most fish use external fertilization, aka dumping their goods into the water on top of each other, and anglerfish are no exception. Scientists think the lady has some hormonal control over when her parasitic testicles release their sperms so timing usually works out well.
Sources
- Dwarfed Males Parasitic on the Females in Oceanic Angler-Fishes (Pediculati Ceratioidea), CT Regan (Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B)
- Oceanic Anglerfishes: Extraordinary Diversity in the Deep Sea, T Pietsch (Book)
- Dimorphism, parasitism, and sex revisited: modes of reproduction among deep-sea ceratioid anglerfishes (Teleostei: Lophiiformes), T Pietsch (Ichtyological Research)
Sexy Science Facts 