School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Biol Lett. 2013 Jun 5;9(4):20130192. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2013.0192. Print 2013 Aug 23.
An individual's gametes can represent a nourishing food source for a manipulative mate. Here, we provide evidence of ejaculate and sperm consumption in a cephalopod. Through labelling male spermatophores with (14)C radiolabel, we found that female squid, Sepiadarium austrinum, consumed the spermatophores of their partners and directed the nutrients received into both somatic maintenance and egg production. We further show that in this species-where fertilization occurs externally in the female's buccal cavity-sperm storage is short-term (less than 21 days). The combination of female spermatophore consumption and short-term external sperm storage has the potential to exert strong selection on male ejaculates and reproductive strategies.
个体的配子可能代表着有操纵性的配偶的滋养食物来源。在这里，我们提供了头足类动物精液和精子消耗的证据。通过用 (14)C 放射性标记雄性精荚，我们发现，雄性枪乌贼（Sepiadarium austrinum）的雌性个体消耗了伴侣的精荚，并将所获得的营养物质分配到了身体维持和卵子生产中。我们进一步表明，在这种物种中——其中受精发生在雌性的口腔内——精子储存是短期的（不到 21 天）。雌性精荚消耗和短期外部精子储存的结合，有可能对雄性的精液和生殖策略产生强烈的选择作用。
