What to Do When Your Girlfriend Is 70 Times Bigger Than You
by Katherine Harmon Courage
Mar 19, 2017
3 minutes
Out in the clear waters near the Great Barrier Reef, a common blanket octopus male swims toward a female. This male need not worry about showing his brightest colors or engaging in a showy battle of strength in hopes of winning the female’s permission to approach. In fact it’s unclear if the female even notices his approach at all.
You see, the male blanket octopus is less than an inch long. His object of affection? She often tops six feet. How can small fertilize the eggs of a female large? Therein lies one of the trickier sex acts in the natural world.
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