oatmeal did a good job on this. i've found this particular reproduction cycle both gruesome and fascinating for many years, now.
first quibble: IIRC, it's not all angler fish that reproduce like this, but mainly the deep sea anglers. others would reproduce in a traditional fishy way, such as the female laying some eggs and the male fertilising them. adding to the likelihood of this, it's also the deep sea fish that tend to have expansible mouths and stomachs, which is what oatmeal is describing.
second quibble: i'm not sure how terrible the male angler's life really is. i see a lot of my fellow human males spending most of their lives obsessed with chasing women, thinking about sex, and putting up with untold frustration just to hang on to women. say what you want, but for the male deep sea angler, once he finds his mate it's all painless and he gets to have sex for the rest of his life.
oatmeal did a good job on this. i've found this particular reproduction cycle both gruesome and fascinating for many years, now.
first quibble: IIRC, it's not all angler fish that reproduce like this, but mainly the deep sea anglers. others would reproduce in a traditional fishy way, such as the female laying some eggs and the male fertilising them. adding to the likelihood of this, it's also the deep sea fish that tend to have expansible mouths and stomachs, which is what oatmeal is describing.
second quibble: i'm not sure how terrible the male angler's life really is. i see a lot of my fellow human males spending most of their lives obsessed with chasing women, thinking about sex, and putting up with untold frustration just to hang on to women. say what you want, but for the male deep sea angler, once he finds his mate it's all painless and he gets to have sex for the rest of his life.
first quibble: IIRC, it's not all angler fish that reproduce like this, but mainly the deep sea anglers. others would reproduce in a traditional fishy way, such as the female laying some eggs and the male fertilising them. adding to the likelihood of this, it's also the deep sea fish that tend to have expansible mouths and stomachs, which is what oatmeal is describing.
second quibble: i'm not sure how terrible the male angler's life really is. i see a lot of my fellow human males spending most of their lives obsessed with chasing women, thinking about sex, and putting up with untold frustration just to hang on to women. say what you want, but for the male deep sea angler, once he finds his mate it's all painless and he gets to have sex for the rest of his life.