Wittmann 1996d
Wittmann 1996d
WITTMANN, K. J., 1996d: Right equipment. Why Antarctic shrimps have large penises. BBC Wildlife, 14 (4): 24.
Marine animals in Antarctic regions have adapted to low temperatures by growing slowly and becoming larger than their dose relatives in warmer waters. In some cases. this has occurred in surprising ways, as disovered by a recent expedition by ecologists on the German research vessel Polarstern. The scientists discovered that the males of many species of opossum shrimps (crustaceans in the order Mysidacea) sport double-penises which are so long. they project beyond the shrimps' head (above). Females, though, are similar to other shrimps from the Mysidacea order, their eggs being fertilised within brood pouches. The scientists believe that, because the Antarctic male opossum shrimp's mating season is short, it has to get its penises into the female's brood pouch as fast as possible. Presumably long penises are a great advantage.
Antarctic; sexual biology; morphology; adaptation
Mysifaun erigens