Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Squid
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===Reproductive system=== [[File:Onykia ingens with erect penis.jpg|thumb|left|Male ''[[Onykia ingens]]'' with penis erected to {{convert|67|cm|in|0|abbr=on}}]] The sexes are separate in squid, with a single [[gonad]] in the posterior part of the body. Fertilisation is external and usually takes place in the mantle cavity of the female. The male has a [[testis]] from which sperm pass into a single gonoduct where they are rolled together into a long bundle, or spermatophore. The gonoduct is elongated into a "penis" that extends into the mantle cavity and through which spermatophores are ejected. In shallow water species, the penis is short, and the spermatophore is removed from the mantle cavity by a tentacle of the male, which is specially adapted for the purpose and known as a [[hectocotylus]], and placed inside the mantle cavity of the female during mating.<ref name=Ruppert/> [[File:Uroteuthis duvauceli hectocotylus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Hectocotylus]] of ''[[Uroteuthis duvauceli]]'': one tentacle of the male is adapted for transferring the [[spermatophore]].]] The female has a large translucent [[ovary]], situated towards the posterior of the visceral mass. From here, eggs travel along the gonocoel, where there are a pair of white [[nidamental gland]]s, which lie anterior to the gills. Also present are red-spotted accessory nidamental glands containing [[Symbiosis|symbiotic]] bacteria; both organs are associated with nutrient manufacture and forming shells for the eggs. The gonocoel enters the mantle cavity at the [[gonopore]], and in some species, receptacles for storing spermatophores are located nearby, in the mantle wall.<ref name=Ruppert/> In shallow-water species of the [[continental shelf]] and [[epipelagic]] or [[mesopelagic zone]]s, it is frequently one or both of arm pair IV of males that are modified into hectocotyli.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tolweb.org/accessory/Cephalopoda_Glossary?acc_id=587 |title=Hectocotylus |author1=Young, R. E. |author2=Vecchione, M. |author3=Mangold, K. M.|work=Cephalopoda Glossary|publisher=Tree of Life Web Project |access-date=14 December 2018}}</ref> However, most deep-sea squid lack hectocotyl arms and have longer penises; Ancistrocheiridae and Cranchiinae are exceptions.<ref name="Arkhipkin 2010"/> [[Giant squid]] of the genus ''Architeuthis'' are unusual in that they possess both a large penis and modified arm tips, although whether the latter are used for spermatophore transfer is uncertain.<ref name="Arkhipkin 2010"/> Penis elongation has been observed in the deep-water species ''[[Onykia ingens]]''; when erect, the penis may be as long as the mantle, head, and arms combined.<ref name="Arkhipkin 2010" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Walker |first=M. |date=7 July 2010 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8792000/8792008.stm |title=Super squid sex organ discovered |work=BBC Earth News}}</ref> As such, deep-water squid have the greatest known penis length relative to body size of all mobile animals, second in the entire animal kingdom only to certain sessile [[barnacle]]s.<ref name="Arkhipkin 2010">{{cite journal |last1=Arkhipkin |first1=A. I. |first2=V. V. |last2=Laptikhovsky |year=2010 |title=Observation of penis elongation in ''Onykia ingens'': implications for spermatophore transfer in deep-water squid |journal=Journal of Molluscan Studies |doi=10.1093/mollus/eyq019 |volume=76 |issue=3 |pages=299β300|doi-access=free }}</ref>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)