Male octopus poisons its mate to avoid becoming post-sex snack
While the bite from a venomous blue-lined octopus (Hapalochlaena fasciata) can result in a painful, potentially life-or-death emergency for humans, new research indicates it’s part of everyday courtship for the eight-limbed mollusks. And in the case of the male blue-lined octopus, his neurotoxin supply serves as a defensive mechanism against his mate. Sexual cannibalism is documented across a wide range of species, particularly in many mantises and spiders. While unfortunate for the males, becoming a post-sex meal offers the females vital nutrients needed to sustain themselves and their soon-to-be hundreds of gestating offspring. This practice is especially common in animals exhibiting female sexual dimorphism, an evolutionary trait in which one sex is larger than the other. Cannibalism among sexually dimorphic animals isn’t restricted solely to insects and arachnids. It also occurs with some crustaceans, gastropods, and even octopuses. And while a female blue-lined octopus is usually about double the size of a...