Why is This Male Fish Genitalia Have Hooks?

Brian Langerhans, a researcher from North Carolina State University, aghast at the sight of one species of fish from a river in Mexico. "The male genitalia is equipped with four hooks," Langerhans said, as quoted by LiveScience, Friday, September 28, 2012.

A male Gambusia quadruncus.
(Picture from: http://www.livescience.com/)

Freshwater fish with a terrifying genitals were called Gambusia quadruncus. Locals used to call Ilanos mosquitofish. Langerhans suspect the four hooks on the male penis function hold the female while they were mating.

Behavior "force" during mating may be counter-response to the defense of female fish often refuse unwanted male fish. "The fish are very picky females. He does not want to mate with males of inferior quality," Langerhans said.

Conversely, the male is very fond of mating, thus developing a hook on her genitals to make sure they can mate with as many female fish. The findings are published in the Journal of Fish Biology Okober edition 2012.

A magnified view of the four-hooked genitalia of the newly identified fish species Gambusia quadruncus. (Picture from: http://www.livescience.com/)

Langerhans said, female fish have evolved to form a sort of network, round genital pore blocking. This means that the female does not allow the male to marry except that males have evolved to be able to access the genital pore.

"The genitals with four hooks can help the male attaches to the female genital pore and injects his sperm," he explains.

Hooks on genital fish is certainly something strange. But the oddity was ever found in other types of fish, namely Phallostethus cuulong, recently discovered in Vietnam.

A preserved specimen of Phallostethus cuulong, a new species of fish with a penis on its head that has been identified in the Mekong delta in Vietnam. (Picture from: http://www.rawstory.com/)

Lateral view of head and anterior part of body of cleared and stained male specimen of Phallostethus cuulong. Its sex organ, called the priapium, includes two bony attachments: a rod-like structure (toxactinium) and a serrated hook (ctenactinium). (Picture from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/)

Cuulong male genitalia of fish found on the chin. Not only that, it also features a genital kind of small serrations to associate themselves when the males mate with fish. females. "Linking genitals fertilization help ensure the success of male fish," said the researchers who discovered the fish cuulong. Research on fish cuulong published in the July 2012 issue of the journal Zootaxa.

Langerhans also had the same theory to fish Ilanos mosquitofish. He said around cloaca female fish have some spots of color. The spots were thought to indicate the location of the genital pore, reproductive status, and species. Different spots around the cloaca can help prevent cross-breeding between species, thus reducing the possibility of a hybrid fish. *** [LIVESCIENCE | MAHARDIKA SATRIA HADI | KORAN TEMPO 4013]

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