rhamphotheca:

To Sex-Starved Squid in the Dark, Either Gender Will Do

by Stephanie Pappas

Meeting girls is tough if you’re a male squid living in the deep, dark waters off the coast of California. You may run across your own species only rarely — and when you do, the deep-sea gloom makes it hard to tell whether your new pal is a guy or gal.

But one squid species has come up with a work-around to this matchmaking problem, a new study finds. The eight-armed lotharios simply mate with any squid of their species that crosses their path. If that means wasting some sperm on male-to-male matings, the squid don’t seem to mind.

This same-sex squid behavior can’t necessarily be taken as more evidence of homosexual bonding in the wild, according to study researcher Henk-Jan Hoving, a postdoctoral researcher at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, Calif. Rather, the squid seem to mate indiscriminately out of necessity…

(read more: Live Science)