The Bizarre Mating Ritual of the Anglerfish

And then there are the anglerfish, perhaps the strangest hunters in the deep. The female dangles

a luminous lure in front of her mouth, drawing in unsuspecting prey.

But her greatest mystery lies in reproduction. Males are born tiny, weak,

and helpless. Their only task is to find a female, a nearly impossible feat in the vast,

dark ocean. When he does, he latches onto her with special jaws,

fusing his body into hers. His organs wither away until he is little more than

a sack of sperm, permanently attached, nourished by her blood. It is one of the

most extreme forms of sexual adaptation known in the animal kingdom.