RobBob Posted March 21, 2003 Share Posted March 21, 2003 5. Notorious sex pest of the animal world has the perfect excuse for serial groping The Independent (UK) By Andrew Buncombe in Washington 03 January 2003 Pity the poor male greater blue-ringed octopus. And pity his girlfriends as well. The native of Australia is notorious as the king groper of the animal world, famous for fondling its partners with a specially modified arm before mating. But researchers from California have discovered that far from being a sex pest, poor old Hapalochlaena lunulata has a perfectly reasonably excuse for his behaviour. Scientists from the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA discovered that the octopus, who is common to the Pacific and Indian oceans, does not initially know if he is dealing with a male or a female and is as likely to grope one as the other. Finding a partner is a shot in the dark. The researchers, MARY CHENG AND ROY CALDWELL [OF UC BERKELEY], writing in Nature Australia magazine, studied 15 encounters between male octopuses and nine between a male and a female.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PullinFool Posted March 21, 2003 Share Posted March 21, 2003 "Specially modified third arm..." So THAT is what that swedish pump is for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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