Thursday, February 27, 2025

A Pair Of Anglerfish

at a fishmonger's stall.  I remember reading that the reason only female anglerfish seem to ever be caught is that male anglerfish are tiny compared to females, and when a male encounters a female he will bite onto her body and become fused with her, gradually losing most of his own body until he becomes a parasite that consists of nothing but his sexual organs.

I remember feeling quite repelled and even a little scared as I read that article.  What does a male anglerfish feel as he undergoes this process of de-evolution?  Does he stay conscious even as he loses his sight and his brain begins to be absorbed into his mate's body?  What must that be like, literally "losing his mind" as his brain dissolves away?  Doesn't it seem a little bit like being buried alive, without actually being buried?  What a grotesque way of propagating a species, like something out of a horror movie.



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